GLEIF and the BIS have demonstrated how the Legal Entity Identifier can streamline KYC and AML processes for SMEs across cross-border Open Finance networks.
The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) have published results of Project Aperta, a prototype developed by the BIS Innovation Hub Hong Kong Centre that demonstrates how the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) can streamline KYC/B and AML processes for small and medium-sized enterprises using open banking and Open Finance APIs to initiate payments and open business accounts across borders.
The prototype creates a network of networks connecting existing domestic Open Finance infrastructures in the UK, the UAE, Brazil, Hong Kong, and India through a neutral interoperability layer. When an organisation identifies itself using an LEI, the system can streamline the required KYB and AML checks across participating jurisdictions.
Addressing fragmentation in cross-border Open Finance
Domestic Open Finance frameworks currently resist interconnectivity due to differing technical standards, data formats, and trust frameworks. For SMEs operating across borders, this fragmentation results in repeated manual checks, duplicated document submissions, and lengthy onboarding processes, limiting access to overseas accounts, credit, and trade finance.
Project Aperta directly addresses two pain points identified in the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-Border Payments: reducing compliance duplication and lowering onboarding times for businesses seeking cross-border financial services. By embedding the LEI as a data attribute in cross-border payment messages or business account opening processes, participating entities can be identified precisely and automatically across borders without repeating verification steps already completed in another jurisdiction.
In addition, the project was carried out in collaboration with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Central Bank of Brazil, the Central Bank of the UAE, and the UK's Financial Conduct Authority, alongside participation from GLEIF, the International Chamber of Commerce Digital Standards Initiative, and the Hong Kong University Standard Chartered Foundation FinTech Academy. The prototype was tested with private-sector commercial banks and fintechs.
Digital assets and broader LEI adoption
Project Aperta also points to potential applications in digital asset ecosystems. The report suggests that integrating the LEI into tokenised finance infrastructure could enable the exchange of verified legal entity data between financial institutions, digital asset platforms, and regulators, supporting transparency and regulatory oversight in cross-border digital asset transactions.
The project builds on broader momentum around LEI inclusion in cross-border payment messages, which has received recognition from FATF, the BIS Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures, The Wolfsberg Group, and the Swift Payment Market Practice Group.
