Chloe Hartup Ubisecure and VerifyVASP announce partnership supporting LEI adoption for VASPs and non-individual entities ahead of new FATF regulation.
LONDON, UK, & SINGAPORE – 11th July 2023 – RapidLEI by Ubisecure, the leading issuer of Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs), has announced an exciting new partnership with Singapore-based RegTech solutions provider, VerifyVASP. The venture makes VerifyVASP the first Travel Rule solution provider to become a Validation Agent (VA). The collaboration will enable VerifyVASP to quickly and seamlessly obtain LEIs for their Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) clients, using RapidLEI’s automated issuance technology.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has set comprehensive standards for AML/CFT regulations, which are then adopted by regulators worldwide for enforcement in the respective regions. As part of the FATF Recommendations, Recommendation 16 pertaining to the Travel Rule was introduced to mitigate the AML/CFT risks associated with Virtual Asset transfers. The Travel Rule mandates VASPs to to obtain, hold and submit required and accurate originator and beneficiary information for all VA transfers.
Some countries have begun to adopt and enforce the Travel Rule. There have also been global calls for accelerated enforcements globally, leading to the European Union (EU) approving the recent Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation and Transfer of Funds Regulation which mandates the Travel Rule. VASPs, otherwise referred to as Crypto Assets Service Providers (CASPs) in the EU, are expected to comply within approximately 1.5 years.
Within some of these regulations, the LEI will be required for non-individual entities that are the originator or beneficiary in Virtual Asset transfers. The LEI is also anticipated to support counterparty due diligence between VASPs – another key requirement in several regulations.
By becoming a Validation Agent, VerifyVASP, who is a leading global Travel Rule solution provider, can streamline the issuance of LEIs to its members, facilitating improved counterparty due diligence. It will also assist members with the issuance of LEIs to their non-individual customers, fostering increased adoption of LEIs ahead of the EU regulations coming into force. This will drive broader adoption of the LEI across the entire Virtual Asset industry, globally, for international transfers.
RapidLEI’s API offering enables automated LEI issuance and management. The API enables VA capabilities to be integrated directly into partner applications easily, supporting new and innovative LEI use cases. VerifyVASP will use the LEI as one of the key organisation identifiers in its platform. This LEI use case showcases the value of the LEI in identifying players of virtual asset transactions and facilitating Travel Rule implementation.
Shihyun Chia, CEO of VerifyVASP, said:
“Travel Rule is effectively a messaging protocol that would require data standards, taxonomies and industry best practices for effective frictionless compliance. The adoption of LEI as prescribed by regulations such as the TFR would be a cornerstone in achieving this. Additionally, LEI would also facilitate the identification and verification of counterparties in establishing counterparty or correspondent relationships between VASPs/CASPs.”
Chris Hudson, Director of Channel Sales at RapidLEI, said:
“LEIs are increasingly becoming part of regulatory requirements across multiple industries, with over 300 regulations already requiring LEIs in some capacity. Our partnership with VerifyVASP will increase adoption of LEIs for VASPs ahead of the MiCA and Transfer of Funds Regulation mandates. We are eager to support their work to implement LEIs in and around RegTech and Travel Rule solutions.”
Find out more about partnering with RapidLEI at rapidlei.com/partners.
About Ubisecure and RapidLEI
Ubisecure is accredited by the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) to issue Legal Entity Identifiers (LEI). RapidLEI is a Ubisecure service that automates the LEI lifecycle to deliver LEIs quickly and easily. As of March 2023, over 200,000 organizations have chosen RapidLEI to issue their global organization identifier. As well as pioneering the LEI Everywhere™ program, the company is a technology innovator and provides Identity & Access Management (IAM) software and cloud services for Customers, Workforce, & Organization Identity use cases. Enterprises and Governments use Ubisecure IAM solutions to enhance user experience and security through improved registration, authentication, authorization, and identity data management. Ubisecure also provides solutions to companies maintaining their own customer identity pools (such as banks and mobile network operators) to become Identity Providers (IdP) for strong authentication and federation services.
For more information about Ubisecure visit ubisecure.com or rapidlei.com.
About The Author: Chloe Hartup
All the blogs, articles and more posted by Digital Marketing Manager, Chloe, aiming to share insightful and interesting content on identity and LEIs, including episodes from the Let's Talk About Digital Identity Podcast.
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