Quick answer
A lapsed LEI is a Legal Entity Identifier that was not renewed by its yearly renewal date. It still belongs to your company and keeps the same code, but many banks and brokers stop accepting it until it is renewed. You can renew it at any time while the company exists, either with the issuer that manages it or after transferring it to another issuer.
An LEI has to be renewed every year, and many companies only find out it has lapsed when a bank or broker stops accepting their code. You can renew your LEI online through us, even if another issuer manages it at the moment. If you are new to LEIs, our guide to what an LEI is and why banks ask for it covers the basics.
What a Lapsed LEI Means
Every LEI has a public record in the database of the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), which shows its registration status and next renewal date. While the code is up to date, the status is ISSUED. Once the renewal date passes without a renewal, the LEI status changes to LAPSED.
GLEIF uses this status only while the company, as far as public sources show, still operates. The record is not deleted, and the code is never given to anyone else. What has lapsed is the yearly check of the company’s data. The issuer, the organisation accredited by GLEIF to manage the code, has not confirmed that the details in the record still match the business register.
LAPSED is one of several statuses a record can show:
| Status in GLEIF | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| ISSUED | The code is up to date and its data was checked within the last year | Nothing until the next renewal date |
| LAPSED | The renewal date passed without a renewal | Renew it, with the current issuer or after a transfer to another one |
| PENDING_TRANSFER | The code is moving to another issuer | Wait for the transfer to finish |
| RETIRED | The company no longer exists, for example after liquidation or a merger | Nothing, as a retired code cannot be renewed |
| DUPLICATE or ANNULLED | A second code was issued for the same company, or the code was issued in error | Use the company’s valid code |
What Happens When Your LEI Lapses
With a lapsed code, a bank or broker can no longer rely on the company’s data being current. Whether it may still accept the code depends on the rules for reporting transactions to regulators and on its own policy, and many financial firms choose not to.
Clients who come to us with a lapsed LEI have usually heard about it from their bank or broker. Some were asked to renew the code by a set deadline. For others, new trades were blocked until the code was renewed, or their application for an investment account was put on hold.
Outside investments and other financial contracts, such as currency hedges, a lapsed LEI usually changes nothing: the company’s register entry, its taxes and everyday payments do not depend on it.
Why LEI Codes Lapse
Each LEI gets a renewal date one year after it is issued, and each renewal made on time moves that date forward by a year. Unless the company has paid several years in advance or chosen automatic renewal, the code is not renewed by itself, so someone at the company has to remember to do it.
GLEIF’s quarterly business reports show that only a little over half of the codes due for renewal are actually renewed. Among our clients, the most common reason for a lapse is a reminder from the previous provider that never arrived or went unnoticed. Other clients had not needed the code for a long time because their investment account sat unused, or did not know that an LEI has to be renewed every year.
How to Renew a Lapsed LEI
A lapsed LEI can be renewed at any time as long as the company still exists. Renewal reactivates the code and returns its status to ISSUED.
Check the Record in GLEIF
Search for your company’s name, registration number or LEI in the GLEIF database. The record shows the current status and the issuer that manages the code. Before you renew, check that the company’s name and address in the business register are up to date, because the issuer compares the LEI data with the register.
Renew With the Current Issuer or Transfer Your LEI
You can renew with the issuer named in the record, usually through the provider you originally used. If you would rather use another provider, you can move the code to a different issuer and renew it there in the same application. This move is called an LEI transfer: only the managing issuer changes, not the code or its history. During the transfer, the record may show PENDING_TRANSFER.
Do Not Apply for a New Code
A company may have only one LEI, so an issuer will normally refuse a second application, and a code issued by mistake is later marked as a duplicate. Your bank or broker also still has the old code on file.
How to Keep Your LEI From Lapsing
The simplest protection is a three- or five-year package, under which the code is renewed every year of the paid term as long as the company’s details stay current. The GLEIF record then keeps showing ISSUED with a renewal date about a year ahead. If you pay one year at a time, you can choose automatic renewal when you order the code, and it is renewed before the date comes round.
If you prefer to renew manually, put the renewal date in the company calendar and make one person responsible for it. Issuers usually accept a renewal up to 60 days before the date. An early renewal still adds a full year to the old date, so there is no need to leave it until the last day.
LEI Renewal and Transfer Through Eesti Firma
We work with WM Datenservice, a GLEIF-accredited issuer, and renew LEIs for companies from most countries. In our LEI application form, choose renewal or transfer. If another issuer manages your code, we transfer it and renew it in the same application, with no separate transfer fee. In our experience, a lapsed code is usually back to ISSUED within one or two working days.
If your bank or broker has set a deadline or you are not sure what status your code has, send us the LEI and we will check it for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Only if a bank, broker or reporting rule still requires it. An unused code can stay LAPSED and be renewed later, even after several years, as long as the company exists.
In practice, yes. “Expired” is the everyday word for this situation, while LAPSED is the official status in the GLEIF database. The code itself does not expire: GLEIF still treats it as your company’s identifier, but its data is overdue for confirmation.
In our experience, usually one or two working days, even when the code is transferred from another issuer. A transfer occasionally takes up to a week, and any renewal can take longer if the company’s data has changed or the issuer asks for documents, for example a power of attorney.
