Quick answer
In Italy, a company needs an LEI as soon as it buys or sells securities through a bank or broker, hedges interest rates or currencies with derivatives, or issues bonds traded on a market, such as minibonds. For these transactions, EU rules such as MiFIR and EMIR require the bank, broker or market to identify the company by this code, so without one the transaction cannot go ahead. Private individuals do not need an LEI, and a sole trader needs one only in some cases.
If a bank or broker has asked your Italian company for its codice LEI, it wants the company’s Legal Entity Identifier, a 20-character code that ties every trade, swap or bond issue to one specific company. The basics of the code are covered in our guide to what an LEI is. A company without a code can order one online from us, and it typically takes one or two working days to issue.
Why Italy Has So Many LEIs
When we counted the global LEI database on 6 November 2026, Italian entities held 260,926 LEI codes. As our LEI statistics show, that is more than any other EU country and the third-highest total in the world after India and the United States. About 170,000 of these codes were up to date.
LEIs became so common in Italy because of MiFID II and MiFIR, the EU’s rules on investment services, which took effect on 3 January 2018. Italy brought MiFID II into national law by Legislative Decree 129/2017, while MiFIR applies directly. Under MiFIR’s reporting rules, a bank or broker may not carry out a trade for a company that has no LEI, a rule the industry sums up as “no LEI, no trade”. This covers every company that buys or sells securities traded on EU markets, so in Italy it also reached family firms that only occasionally trade a few government bonds through their bank.
When an Italian Company Needs an LEI
In most of the cases below, the bank, broker or platform must collect the code and will not act without it. Our guide to EU LEI requirements explains each rule in more detail.
| Situation | Rule behind it | Who asks for the LEI |
|---|---|---|
| Buying or selling shares, bonds, ETFs or Italian government bonds such as BTPs | MiFID II and MiFIR | Your bank or broker |
| Interest-rate swaps, currency forwards and other derivatives | EMIR | The bank on the other side of the contract |
| Issuing minibonds or other bonds traded on a market | Market admission rules and EU securities data rules | The market operator and the bank or adviser organising the issue |
| Buying crypto-assets with company money | Platform checks under MiCA | The crypto platform |
| Supplying IT services to banks, insurers or payment firms | DORA | Your financial client |
Investing Company Money
A company that buys or sells shares, bonds, ETFs or government bonds through its securities account needs its LEI before the bank or broker carries out the first order. How brokers handle this in practice is explained in our article on company brokerage accounts and the LEI.
Hedging Interest Rates and Currencies
An Italian company with a floating-rate loan may agree an interest-rate swap with its bank to fix the cost of borrowing, and an exporter may use currency forwards to lock in an exchange rate. Both are derivatives under EMIR, the EU’s derivatives regulation, and each contract is reported with the LEIs of both parties. The bank usually files the report for both sides, but the company must give it a valid code and renew it every year while the contract runs. A code that has already lapsed can still be renewed, as explained in our guide to lapsed LEIs.
Issuing Minibonds and Other Bonds
Decree-Law 83/2012 allowed unlisted Italian companies, including SMEs, to raise money by issuing minibonds. These bonds are often traded on Euronext Access Milan, formerly ExtraMOT, a market run by Borsa Italiana, the Milan stock exchange. Its admission document asks for the issuer’s LEI. Under EU rules on securities data, every bond traded on such a market is also linked to its issuer’s LEI, so a company planning a bond issue there should get its code before the admission process starts.
Crypto Accounts, IT Contracts and Financial Firms
Many crypto platforms licensed under MiCA, the EU’s crypto-asset rules, ask company clients for an LEI, usually when the account is opened, as our guide to LEIs for crypto explains. Italian banks and insurers may also ask their IT suppliers for an LEI under DORA, the EU’s digital resilience law. Most financial firms supervised by the Bank of Italy, Consob or IVASS need an LEI of their own.
Who in Italy Can Get an LEI
Every Italian legal entity can get an LEI, and so can some businesses that are not legally separate from their owner.
| Who | Can get an LEI? | When it is usually needed |
|---|---|---|
| Srl, Srls and SpA | Yes | Securities trades, derivatives, bond issue, crypto |
| Partnerships: snc and sas | Yes | The same situations as companies |
| Italian branch of a foreign company | Yes, if the foreign company already has its own LEI | Ask your bank whether the foreign company’s code is enough |
| Foundations, associations, investment funds and pension funds | Yes | Buying or selling securities |
| Ditta individuale (sole trader) | Yes, if entered in the Registro delle Imprese, the Italian business register | Some derivatives; ask your bank |
| Private individual | No | Never: banks use the codice fiscale, the Italian tax code |
Does a Ditta Individuale Need an LEI?
A ditta individuale is not legally separate from its owner, but the LEI rules allow individuals acting in a business capacity to get a code, so a sole trader entered in the Registro delle Imprese is eligible. For trades in shares and bonds, EU reporting rules identify an Italian individual, including a sole trader, by their codice fiscale. A derivative linked to the business, such as a swap on a business loan, is a different matter, and some banks then ask for an LEI.
Italian banks do not all apply the LEI rules to sole traders in the same way, so ask yours which identifier it needs before you apply. Our article on LEIs for individuals and sole traders explains the general rules.
How an Italian Company Can Get Its LEI Online
An LEI is valid worldwide, so an Italian company does not have to obtain it in Italy, and we accept applications from companies in 51 countries. You enter the company’s details in our online form and pay by card or PayPal. We prepare the application, and our partner, a GLEIF-accredited LEI issuer, checks the details against the Registro delle Imprese and issues the code.
If your company already has a code, moving it to our partner issuer is free and the code number stays the same. If your bank’s request is unclear, we will check at no charge what it actually needs. As we are based in Estonia, Italian companies with a VAT number valid for intra-EU trade pay no Estonian VAT on our fee, and our LEI price comparison shows what the code costs.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. An Italian company that only uses a current account, cards and ordinary payments can work without an LEI. The code becomes necessary when a bank, broker or crypto platform asks for it before an investment, a derivative or a bond issue on a market, and most financial firms supervised by the Bank of Italy, Consob or IVASS must hold their own.
Search the free database of GLEIF, the foundation that runs the LEI system, for the company’s name or codice fiscale. The record shows the code, its status and the date of the next renewal.
Yes, if the company buys them in its own name. Under MiFIR, the bank reports every purchase or sale of BTPs by a company or partnership with its LEI, so it asks for the code first. A private individual who buys BTPs personally gives the bank their codice fiscale instead.
Eesti Firma OÜ (LEI 2549006RA6TCO1KHOJ54) is a Registration Agent of WM Datenservice (LEI 5299000J2N45DDNE4Y28), a GLEIF-accredited LEI issuer. We accept and prepare applications for three services: issuing a new LEI, renewing an LEI and transferring an LEI. WM Datenservice checks the data and issues, renews and transfers the codes. If your LEI is managed by another issuer, it is first transferred to WM Datenservice and then renewed.
