ISO Standardizes GLEIF’s Pioneering Digital Organizational Identity Offering with Publication of vLEI Technical Standard

ISO has expanded the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) technical standard—ISO 17442—to describe a standard approach for embedding the LEI in digitally signed, tamper-resistant verifiable credentials, known as verifiable LEIs (vLEIs).

The publication of ISO 17442-3:2024 standardizes the vLEI—a new form of digitized organizational identity pioneered by GLEIF which answers the global need for the decentralized, automated authentication and verification of legal entities across various industries.

The standard describes different types of vLEI credentials developed using the chaining capabilities of Authentic Chained Data Container (ACDC) credentials. This chaining, combined with the secure capabilities of the Key Event Receipt Infrastructure (KERI) protocol for the issuance and revocation of credentials and the pre-rotation of cryptographic keys, allows for the provenance of vLEIs to be traced back to GLEIF as the ‘root of trust’ for the vLEI trust chain, as well as the organization’s LEI in the Global LEI System, which is operated by GLEIF under regulatory oversight.

Notably, the standard describes the use of the vLEI to verify the identity of people that represent an organization in either official or functional roles, both inside and outside the boundaries of the organization. This marks an important step forward in establishing the vLEI as a universally trusted method of digitally verifying the authenticity of persons authorized to act on behalf of an organization, which is a key requirement for sensitive business transactions and other official interactions.

Alexandre Kech, CEO of GLEIF, comments: “This is a pivotal moment in the evolution of digital organizational identity. The inclusion of the vLEI in ISO 17442 solidifies its role as the global benchmark for secure, digital verification of legal entities. As the vLEI gains traction, it promises to revolutionize how businesses authenticate and trust each other, enabling seamless interactions in a way that has never been possible before. The vLEI not only enhances security and trust but also drives efficiency and scalability across platforms and industries.”

The proposal for standardizing the vLEI was brought to ISO by GLEIF. The organization also participated in work efforts for the revision through its membership of the technical committee which manages ISO 17442 (ISO/TC 68 SC 8).

Jim Northey, ISO TC 68 Chair and Non-Executive Director, the FIX Trading Community, adds: “ISO TC68 community would like to thank the work of GLEIF in conjunction with ISO TC 68/SC 8 in their innovative approach to provide secure credentials capable of identifying a legal entity and associated role associated with the legal entity which provides a global standard approach for not only managing identity in regulatory reporting but also commerce in general. Having this open globally supported standard for securely identifying counterparties provides a significant improvement in infrastructure that further increases the value of our global legal identifier system.”

This latest publication marks the ongoing standardization of evolving LEI applications, following the release of ISO 17442-2 in 2020 which defined the use of embedded LEIs within standard X.509 digital certificates, as well as the work of developing ISO 5009, Financial services — Official organizational roles — Scheme for official organizational roles, which can be used within vLEI credentials.