Closing the Global Legal Entity Data Gap

plei identifiers are derived from official company registers — the government authorities that create and maintain legal entities. These are the same primary sources that underpin the Global LEI System. When a company register records the incorporation of a new entity, that act brings the legal entity into being. The register's ongoing records constitute proof of existence: confirmation that the entity continues to exist, has not been dissolved, and retains its legal personality.

OpenCorporates has spent fifteen years building connections to company registers across 140+ jurisdictions, processing data on over 200 million legal entities. plei leverages this infrastructure to generate identifiers directly from these authoritative sources.

No. Company registers contain more than just legal entities. They contain branches (registrations of out-of-jurisdiction entities having some sort of business presence there). They also contain things like name reservations, trademarks, business licences, tradename databases, even dummy data.

All of these have been identified and excluded. plei identifiers are only created for entities with official proof of existence as a legal entity — the construct that holds legal personality and can enter binding agreements. This curation is essential: an identifier that includes non-entities would undermine the fundamental purpose of legal entity identification.

Local company registration numbers are deeply problematic for systematic use:

Lack of formal specification. Most jurisdictions provide no formal documentation of the rules governing their identifier schemes: format, length, character set, uniqueness constraints, or lifecycle rules. Implementers must reverse-engineer these rules from observed data — a fragile and error-prone process.

Inconsistent uniqueness. Company registers are often surprisingly loose about identifier uniqueness. Numbers may be reused after entity dissolution. Uniqueness may be guaranteed only within a particular entity type (corporations versus partnerships) rather than across the entire register.

Identifier instability. In some jurisdictions, identifiers change when entity attributes change. A company that changes its legal form, moves its registered office, or undergoes certain corporate actions may receive a new identifier.

System discontinuity. Entire identifier systems change without warning. In the United States alone, various states have modified their identifier schemes with little advance notice. On average, some US jurisdiction changes its identifier format approximately every 18 months.

plei uses the ISO 17442 format — the same 20-character standard used by the Global LEI — precisely because it provides the consistency, predictability, and machine-readability that local identifiers lack. This also ensures technical compatibility with existing LEI infrastructure, data models, and workflows.

The sample file is provided in Common Data File (CDF) format — the same standard used by the Global LEI System. This enables direct integration with existing regulatory and financial workflows without format conversion.

Each record includes: legal name, registered address, jurisdiction of registration, legal form, company registration number, entity status, and link to source registry.

These should be treated as test identifiers. One of the questions we are soliciting from users is what prefix we should use to help distinguish pleis from LEIs.

For this sample we are using four zeroes (0000), but are also considering "OC01". We are also wondering whether to exclude certain characters from the body of the identifier that can be visually confusing — for example: 1 and lowercase L, O and 0. We would welcome your feedback on this.

OpenCorporates is the largest open database of companies in the world, providing access to primary-source data on over 200 million entities across 140+ jurisdictions. Our mission is to make company information more accessible, more discoverable, and more usable for the public benefit.

We have spent fifteen years building connections to official company registers worldwide, encountering every variant of identifier instability, format ambiguity, and system discontinuity. This experience is why we are launching plei — we understand these problems better than perhaps anyone.

Because the world needs universal legal entity identification, and existing systems — despite their strengths — cannot achieve it alone.

The Global LEI System is excellent, but structural constraints limit its coverage to fewer than 3 million of the estimated 400+ million legal entities globally. The entity-initiated model means only entities that choose to register receive identifiers. This leaves the vast majority of entities — particularly SMEs — unidentified. More problematically, entities that don't want to be identified (fraudsters, shell companies, bad actors) will never voluntarily register.

plei addresses this by generating identifiers directly from official company registers. Every entity that exists in a register receives a plei, whether it wants one or not. This enables use cases that the entity-initiated model cannot support: comprehensive supply chain mapping, due diligence on unwilling entities, real-time counterparty verification. This aligns with OpenCorporates' longstanding mission to make company information work for the public benefit.

Yes — and that's precisely the problem. (As the XKCD cartoon puts it: "14 competing standards" becomes "15 competing standards.")

But plei is different because it's explicitly designed to complement, not compete with, the Global LEI. We use the same ISO 17442 format, the same CDF data schema, and the same core reference data. When an entity with a plei later obtains an LEI, the plei record links to it and the LEI becomes the primary identifier.

The existing identifier landscape includes:

• •Tax identifiers (VAT, EIN, TIN) — identify tax relationships, not legal entities
• •Ticker codes — identify securities, not companies
• •DUNS numbers — identify business locations, not legal entities
• •Local company numbers — inconsistent, unstable, poorly specified

None of these answer the fundamental question: what is the legal entity that can enter contracts and bear legal responsibility? plei and LEI do. plei simply extends this coverage to the entities that lack LEIs.

We will be launching with all US legal entities. Throughout 2026, we will expand to additional jurisdictions.

OpenCorporates already aggregates data from over 200 million entities across 140+ jurisdictions. Over time, plei coverage will extend to every jurisdiction where we maintain register connections.

This staged approach allows us to make sure we put quality over speed as we scale to full global coverage.

Today: Sample data is available for download at p-lei.com in CDF format. This allows developers, researchers, and potential users to test compatibility and provide feedback.

Coming weeks: We are working with alpha testers to refine the system based on real-world feedback.

Coming months: Expanding coverage and moving toward full launch.

Access methods will include:

• •Bulk download — CDF-format files for batch processing
• •Snowflake — Native cloud data sharing for enterprise platforms
• •API — Integration with OpenCorporates API (for existing customers)
• •p-lei.com portal — Web lookup for ad-hoc queries

For existing OpenCorporates customers, contact your account manager to discuss early access and integration options.

No. Definitely not. The plei is a complementary bridge. It provides a standardized identity for the millions of companies currently outside the formal system. If an entity eventually requires an official LEI for regulatory purposes, our system seamlessly "upgrades" the record.

To ensure maximum interoperability, we use the Common Data File (CDF) format. This allows developers and financial institutions to ingest plei data using the same workflows they already use for the Global LEI System.

To maintain the integrity of global financial history, pleis are permanent. If an entity is dissolved, the identifier remains associated with that record but the status will be updated to "Inactive" or "Dissolved" based on official registry updates.