On 8 March 2021, ISLA, in association with ICMA, AFME, and AMAFI sent a joint communication to ESMA, various NCAs, and the FCA regarding the upcoming end of the forbearance period for the reporting of non-EEA issuer LEIs.
For the first 12 months of the EU SFTR reporting regime, ESMA allowed participants to only report the LEIs of EEA based issuers due to the low coverage of LEIs in non-EEA jurisdictions (see ESMA Statement here). Therefore, as of 13 April 2021, participants are currently expected to report the LEI of issuers whose jurisdiction is outside of the European Economic Area. Unfortunately, despite the additional forbearance granted by ESMA, there remains very large gaps in LEI coverage in non-EEA jurisdictions.
This joint letter requests that ESMA extends the forbearance period for a significant amount of time, and requests further guidance if an extension to the forbearance period is not possible. The letter also provides the results of a joint study into the amount of missing LEIs that remain for active ISINs.
In the context of UK SFTR, the letter has been shared with the FCA for their consideration of the issue.
The letter can be found here.