The vLEI: Introducing Digital I.D.
for Organizations Everywhere
How GLEIF is addressing the global need for digitized,
automated authentication and verification of
organizations across a broad range of industries
GLEIF ’
Enabling global identity Protecting digital trust
Trust: [ ] The missing ingredient in digital transformation -~ .. - In today’s digital world, where organizations For this huge leap forward to succeed, This is a new ecosystem are increasingly cooperating and transacting therefore, the world’s economies must also with one clear goal: to remotely and across borders, trust can no modernize the methods we use to create create a standardized, longer be established with just a handshake trust. Establishing a universal way to digitally digitized service capable or a paper-based signature. Yet confidence in verify the legal identities of counterparty of enabling instant, automated digital authenticity remains in short supply. organizations and their key representatives is verification, enabling trust between . . . . now critical to the future health and stability organizations and their authorized As innovations in loT, blockchain, cloud L . . L of the global digital economy. representatives, and the counterparty computing and open APIs, among others, inspire o A . . . . organizations and representatives with new business propositions and redefine how Only then can counterparties work together A . L . . . . which they interact. organizations connect and engage with one in ways that will unlock the true potential another, the issue of trust remains outstanding. of digitalization: enabling innovation and The ecosystem will operate across How can you be sure you are using your bank’s collaboration to thrive unlimited by geography, all industry sectors, globally. real website? Did that invoice really come from and money, goods and services to flow securely your business partner? around the world faster, more efficiently, and at Covid-19 has increased the pace of change. alower cost than ever before. According to a global McKinsey & Company The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation study, the pandemic has accelerated business’ (GLEIF) is answering this urgent, unmet need. digital initiatives by up to seven years! GLEIF is pioneering a multi-stakeholder L. . . This evolution of traditional business models effort to create a new global ecosystem for Establishing a universal way to digitally brinas with it a huge opbortunity for betterment organizational digital identity. In February 2022, verify the legal identities of counterparty but %nl occur if tl?e wgfid's or gnizcltions can ’ GLEIF published an Ecosystem Governance organizations and their key representatives ny L 9 Framework, together with a technical is now c
ritical to the future health and trust in the authenticity of their customers, supporting infrastructure, for a verifiable LEI stability of the digital global econom partners and suppliers. Cybercrime remains big PP 9! . ' . . Y g g Y- . ; ; (VLE), a digitally verifiable credential containing business. So big, that it cost the global economy the Legal Entity Identifier (LED) an estimated $6 trillion in 20212 9 4 : THow COVID-19 has pushed companies over the technology tipping point — and transformed business forever - McKinsey, October 2020. 2Cybersecurity Ventures Official Annual Cybercrime Report, Cybercrime Magazine
[ R LU International momentum st S Following the launch of the vLEI development program in November 2020, and in addition to the sector-specific use cases identified previously, GLEIF and its partners have made significant progress in a variety of other initiatives to support the creation of the vLEI ecosystem.
November February February March June July December 2020 2021 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 Launch of GLEIF unveils Publication Publication GLEIF and Launch of the First publicly the vLEI technical of vLEI of ISO 5009 PharmalLedger vVLEl Issuer available trial of development infrastructure Ecosystem standard, announce the Qualification organizational program model Governance facilitating deployment program identity services Framework the inclusion of vLEI within leveraging the based on of ‘official blockchain- VvLEI Trust Over IP organizational enabled Governance roles’ in vLEIs healthcare Metamodel solution VLEI e, development G e O progresses First use of the VLEI to sign GLEIF’s 2021 annual report
E .',,‘.:,..;.‘. Bl N AR ' - '\ &(‘ n ‘ ",. ® ._ |
Keen to G t in I I learn more? Contact us on: L. . . . . . . info@gleif.org GLEIF now invites further engagement from parties operating across all industry sectors with a view to exploring opportunities to leverage vLEI identity verification in future applications, services, and business models. About the Legal Entity About the Global Legal Entity History of the Identifier (LEI) Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) Global LEI System The Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is a Established by the Financial Stability Board in June In 2011, the Group of Twenty (G20) 20-character, alpha-numeric code based 2014, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation called on the Financial Stability Board on the ISO 17442 standard developed (GLEIF) is a not-for-profit organization created to (FSB) to provide recommendations by the International Organization for support the implementation and use of the Legal for a global Legal Entity Identifier Standardization (ISO). The LEI connects Entity Identifier (LED. GLEIF is headquartered in (LED and a supporting governance to key reference information that Basel, Switzerland. structure. This led to the development enables clear and unique identification . . . . of the Global LEI System which, . L GLEIF services ensure the operational integrity of . of legal entities participating in . through the issuance of LEls, now . . . the Global LEI System. GLEIF also makes available . . . . . financial transactions. Each LEI contains . . . provides unique identification of legal . . - . the technical infrastructure to provide, via an open . R . information about an entity’s ownership . f entities participating in financial . . data license, access to the full global LEI repository . structure, answering the questions . transactions across the globe. The FSB . . , : , free of charge to users. GLEIF is overseen by the . . of ‘who is who' and ‘who owns whom'. . . L emphasized that global adoption of . . . LEI Regulatory Oversight Committee, which is . o . It provides a universally recognized . - o the LEI underpins multiple “financial . . . . . . made up of representatives of public authorities . AR identifier paired with essential entity - . . stability objectives” and also offers . . . from across the globe. For more information, visit . . " dataq, rigorous verification processes . . many benefits to the private sector”. . . the GLEIF website at https://fwww.gleif.org/en. and high data quality. Source: — Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation, St.
Alban-Vorstadt 5, 4052 Basel, Switzerland — Chair of the Board: Dessa Glasser, CEO: Stephan Wolf — Commercial-Register-No.: CHE-200.595.965, VAT-No.: CHE-200.595.965MWST — LEI: 506700GE1G29325QX363
, 134%° 4268 TR s 1N . v . ' » o ° A . ‘ in ; o887+ 71007 31438 % g 92490 i [} 45.161° || : 92595 ([ | ' 'Ifb ' . 6[ | I ' ' | | 1 S‘. } | l 2207 ‘ GLEIF . % 0 073 > T Enabling global identity The content of this e-book is the property of GLEIF. Reproduction and/or sharing of this content = Protecting digital trust is encouraged and must be accompanied by a clear attribution to GLEIF. 83712 -_ . o . e 69:64 3 - - =F z 50267
[ ] [ ]
Orientation: A briefrecap
What is an LEI? What is GLEIF? Who has an LEI? A Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is an ISO- The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation Until recently, most LEls have been obtained by standardized 20-character code® that uniquely (GLEIF) was established by the Group of Twenty organizations in response to a legal mandate to identifies a legally registered organization, or (G20) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) comply with regulatory reporting requirements. ‘legal entity’. It enables anyone, anywhere in in June 2014. It is a supra-national non-for- More than 200 financial regulators around the the world to trust that an organization is who it profit organization overseen by the Regulatory world now require companies to obtain an LEI claims to be. Oversight Committee and backed by the G20, before they go public. Each LEl is unique and can represent only one S?:t }L:p Eo SU:OEOF.t tTg mafilem(el_r;il:)otmn and use As aresult, the system has created legal entity. Each LEI links to a corresponding of the Legal Entity Identifier ’ unprecedented levels of transparency for all ‘LEI record’ which contains a range of identifying players operating in capital markets including information about the legal entity, such as its regulators, individual companies, investors, registered location, legal name, and ownership and anyone else around structure. Because LEls use a global standard, the world that has an they are a benchmark that regulators and other interest. legal entities worldwide recognize, agree with, At the and trust. start of 2022, All LEl records are held in a freely available and there are over searchable centralized repository, called the ™ two million LEIs Global LEI Index.‘Thls is the only gIong online — in use around source that provides open, standardized, and high-quality legal entity reference data. Together, the world. these elements comprise the Global LEI System, which anyone can use to answer identity related questions related to legal entities, principally ‘who is who' and ‘who owns whom. 5The LEl is created using the ISO 17442 standard. Learn more here: https://www.gleif.org/en/about-lei/iso-17442-the-lei-code-structure/
[ ] [ ] .
Orientation: (J
A brief recap
° ‘_____—-_—\ An independent, = international, Need more |
background S\ not-for-profit system S @) _I Please consult: 1 VAR B VST N Importantly, the Global LEI System is set . 1/ up as a public good. https://www.glglf.org/ I en/about/this-is-gleif It has no commercial, technical, or governmental T dependencies that influence its decisions and “ | direction. GLEIF, which oversees the running of the system and manages its network of accredited IIIlI Iy S By | S Ry S partners, known as LEI issuing organizations, is a (RN llllll non-profit foundation whose activities are overseen ; ‘r by a group of 65 financial markets regulators and i l “III other public authorities and 19 observers from more ( than 50 countries. This diverse and influential group / | \/ | » is called the Regulatory Oversight Committee. . “m“\m = Fundamentally, GLEIF exists to enables smarter, less i , Al costly, and more reliable decisions about who to do ‘““““ ““““l“ i business with by supporting the implementation of AL ““““l“ "’ 18 the LEI and the availability of the Global LEI Index. ““l“““ i = — [\ Y “““Illl' I ..i \\ ' 7 - » 7 (1]
[ », in the LEIl story ity Having successfully proven the power of the Global LEI | i : \:‘\Q\ System to deliver transparency in capital markets, GLEIF n «»\ N is now broadening its ambitions and is working to drive I e R voluntary LEI adoption by organizations everywhere. | fi 'T\ ~ I ‘ GLEIF's new vision is that every organization worldwide X “ ‘ " W should have only one global identity, which can support its I, | N . ' participation in an increasingly digital economy. ; ; .y The Global LEI System is the structure through which this il ey B vision can be realised. Happily, it is already well established. ML The next step is to ensure that ‘the one identity’ should ;Gfi”' %‘M,fl L ML incorporate a digital identity. il e e\ w i ,!;“E“; L i '_E,,a,ry{gggf,\;;{; R Wity it 8 e} ng‘.gg { J RRT—————— ] : __\52 4 A AR & P — - N = oy amr _“-—— N W T ——————— . = I — T, e S S ST T
H ° ° How the world will benefit A new dawn in organizational identity The VvLEI gives companies, government organizations, and other legal entities worldwide the capacity to use non-repudiable identification data pertaining to their legal status, ownership structure and authorized representatives in any kind of digital interaction, transaction, or e-signature scenario. Early-stage use-case examples include: ° O | ‘: \° v= Digitally signing regulatory Expediting supply chain due Verifying business Expediting membership and Accelerating business entity filings and reports. diligence processes. payments. registration to payment registration and license systems. issuance. — = = )l .. &/ = Streamlining and accelerating Facilitating customs and Confirming authenticity Securing the remote To support data protection client onboarding/ Know border control checks. when applying for and execution of business in all use-cases, including Your Customer processes for vetting trusted network contracts. those mandated by financial and other providers membership. regulation. of certain regulated services.
ST T | | = ‘w‘ . e S e This is just the T - H H beginning. = St Hn ._. The real potential of this technology ”‘;‘-’—LA: wg lies in its ability to unlock innovation. ‘ = = = —% A wide range of vertical sector use cases XX oA ‘E‘fi"““ = = —/ have already been identified relating to s | e Dl = ) —/ pilots’ licenses; smishing and e-bot calls; === 725N i it :% medical e-consent; client onboarding; === A T e w / secure exchange of sensitive healthcare — ] | VE » information and more. ) | =EE it . |} i —— Only when market uptake increases and 0 T e e I" industries around the world develop new “\ il E== services and use-cases based on the 0§ %% = \ freedom this technology provides, will the ) ol \ true power of the vLEI will be revealed. 0 i !'.\'\ WRN Rl N W] i~ O ’fi( ~. { i N % | ' F E The vLEI has the potential to become one of the most {(’ % “‘ , valuable digital credentials in the world, because it is the L ,’k ¥ hallmark of authenticity for an organization of any kind. The Q- p family of digital credentials in the GLEIF vLEI Governance y @ Drummond Reed, Frame.work canserveasa chain of trus:t fo.r anyone needing ; Steering Committee Member, to verify the legal identity of an organization or of a person 4 ' Trust Over IP Foundation legally acting on that organization’s behalf. ”? —————
(J (J (J [ J The vLEl: The digital extension (J (J (J of a globally recognized identity system é E z The vLEI concept is simple: It is How does it work? the secure digital counterpart of a ?onve.nfional LEL In other wor.ds, GLEIF has based the design of the VLEI on Authentic Chained Data Container (ACDC) developed it is a digitally trustworthy version within the Trust over IP Foundation (which is hosted by the Linux Foundation). ACDCs use the Key of the 20-digit LEI code which is Event Receipt Infrastructure (KERI) protocol for more secure, enhanced key management. automatically verified, without the . . need for hum);n intervention. The VvLEI system establishes GLEIF as the digital ‘root of trust’ that safeguards the integrity of By wrapping new and existing LEls the vLEI trust chain. This means all vLEls are traceable, through a cryptographically protected chain in digital credentials that can be of credentials, back to their entity identity source LEI in the Global LEI Index. verified, the vLEI offers a digitally trustworthy version of the LEI which allows autgmated entity verification, GLEIF has established a formal Qualification Program to vet and monitor a network of vLEl issuers. thus can replace the manual processes conventionally required to access and GLEIF confirm an entity’s LEI data. o Because the vLEl leverages the : well-established Global LEI System, : which is the only open, standardized e QuahfiedOVLEl Issuers and regulatory-endorsed legal : entity identification system, . . it is capable of establishing e Organizations digital trust between O all organizations, o < : everywhere. o (@Y Figure I GLEIFis the oot of trust'in o @) Persons Representing the vLEl issuance model enabling it to Orga nizations O safeguard the integrity of the system
° (J (J (J The vLEl: The digital extension of a globally recognized identity system How does it work? (cont) o . RGANIZATION PERSON ROLE
Once an organization has obtained ORGAN °
its VLEI it can proceed with the m
issuance of additional vLEI credentials fi -2
to authorized representatives of i s
the organization, allowing them to E T o
digitally confirm their authenticity 22292 o
(their name and their official role)
when performing sensitive business : : :
activities, such as remotely approving : :
transactions, or e-signing contracts. 0 - 0 - @@ 0 O O O LEGALENTITY PERSON’S ROLE IDENTIFIER IDENTIFICATION
Figure 2: the vLEl wraps the LEl, a person’s [LEI STANDARD] [STRING]
identification, and their role inside a
cryptographically secure organization
ige,.fiigtggigfif ng each component to be Crypographically bound to the owner of the keys
Independent, open, [ ] [ ] and unlversally lnteroperable Q; [} (] . H 0 To fulfil its global potential, the vLEI system The vLEI technical infrastructure will enable the must interoperate seamlessly and securely VvLEI's cryptographic keys to be generated and with all technology models, including all DLTs controlled directly by GLEIF, by vLEI Issuers and (like blockchain), cloud services and APls, by by VLEI holders, in accordance with the legal adopting a ‘network of networks’ approach. requirements around the world. - “ / To accomplish this, GLEIF is leveraging the Key . S . I/ / . ! Each party will maintain full, independent control
Event Receipt Infrastructure (KERI) protocol to d bili This all GLEIF q A < develop the VvLEI's technical underpinnings. anap ortability across systems. This allows = N /!
and its vLEI ecosystem to take advantage of ! : KERI provides a cryptographic development all blockchain, distributed ledger, self-sovereign 7 1/,/ @ifi framework enabling vLEls to be anchored identity, and other cloud-based public utilities to "‘i‘ —° and verified without requiring a self-sovereign notarize cryptographic actions or transactions, @ identity, blockchain or distributed ledger utility maximizing interoperability and flexibility in the \/,
k te. LEl system.
network to operate \Y % ¢ )/ Using the KERI protocol, vLEIs can be created d and utilized independently of any specific ~— organization, with the highest levels of security, ‘ ‘ _/,, privacy, and ease of use. KERI also enables iL@ GLEIF and the VLEI ecosystem to operate N SS%) [\/ under GLEIF's governance framework, >ZTIS% unencumbered by the governance of external . . systems, including those of blockchains and For more information on the KERI protocol, please consult: distributed ledger consortia.
=> https://iwww.gleif.org/en/vlei/introducing-the-verifiable-lei-viei
=> https://keri.one