Data Foundation Announces New Support from Bloomberg, Global LEI Foundation, and REI Systems

Washington, D.C. – The Data Foundation is excited to announce the support of Bloomberg, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), and REI Systems as of March 2018. Steve Meizanis, Bloomberg’s Global Head of Entity Content Management, and Stephan Wolf, CEO of the GLEIF, will be nominated to the Data Foundation’s Board of Directors on May 10, 2018.

Through research, education, and programming, the Data Foundation illuminates an open and connected future for government data, including common data fields like the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI). The LEI is a 20-digit, alpha-numeric code based on the ISO 17442 standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It connects to key reference information that enables clear and unique identification of legal entities participating in financial transactions. Simply put, the publicly available LEI data pool can be regarded as a global directory, which greatly enhances transparency in the global marketplace.

Last year, the Foundation’s Who is Who and What is What? research paper explained how the universal adoption of the LEI by all government agencies would create ubiquitous interoperability in entity identity, saving data analytics and data reporting costs for both the public and private sectors.

Bloomberg’s team provides freely-reusable data standards for financial entities and instruments. Last year, Bloomberg won approval to become the United States' second Local Operating Unit authorized to issue the LEI to regulated entities globally. The global LEI ecosystem has doubled in size over the past six months, driven in part by a new European mandate for all issuers of debt and equity securities to identify themselves using LEIs.

GLEIF is the global nonprofit tasked to support the implementation and use of the LEI. GLEIF is backed and overseen by the LEI Regulatory Oversight Committee, representing public authorities from around the globe that have come together to jointly drive forward transparency within the global financial markets.

GLEIF has engaged the Data Foundation to represent it in the United States, serving as a conduit for information and working to build the growing network of government agencies using the LEI to track the entities they regulate.

“We are thrilled to welcome the newest supporters of the Data Foundation: Bloomberg, GLEIF, and REI Systems,” said Hudson Hollister, President, Data Foundation. “These organizations and our other supporters are defining the future of open data through education and research. When data is collected, shared, and used in new ways, government and society can become more open and more efficient. We are grateful for all our supporters’ continued backing.”

“With the Global LEI Index, GLEIF makes available the only global online source that provides open, standardized and high quality legal entity reference data. By doing so, GLEIF enables people, businesses and government agencies to make smarter, less costly and more reliable decisions about who to do business with.” said Stephan Wolf, CEO, GLEIF. “We see this impact in practice across the world. Working with the Data Foundation will help building awareness of the benefits associated with global LEI adoption and formalizing the network of partners who are working towards interoperable data standards in the United States.”

“Bloomberg is proud to work more closely with the Data Foundation," said Steve Meizanis of Bloomberg. “We are committed to open, accessible data, specifically through the universal adoption of the LEI. Bloomberg’s philosophy aligns with the goals and objectives of the Data Foundation, and we are excited to contribute to the emerging open data policy area.”

REI Systems supports the infrastructure and software that disburses more than $20 billion in grants for more than 17,00 federal programs each year. By supporting the Data Foundation, REI Systems will participate in the Foundation’s extensive research program on the transformation of federal grant reporting from disconnected documents into standardized data.

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About the Data Foundation

The Data Foundation is a national non-profit organization that champions the use of open data and evidence-informed public policy to make society better for everyone. We are the trusted authority on the use of open, accessible data to fuel a more efficient, effective, and accountable government; spark innovation; and provide insights to the country’s most pressing challenges. As a nonpartisan think tank, we conduct research, collaborative thought leadership, and advocacy programs that advance practical policies for the creation and use of accessible, trustworthy data. More information about the Data Foundation is available at www.datafoundation.org.