Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will exempt small businesses from paying the Legal Entity Identifier.

The European Union’s updated Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II), which will apply from 3 January 2018, introduces strengthened transaction reporting requirements on financial services firms. Under this new transaction reporting regime, financial services firms with transaction reporting obligations must identify their clients which are legal persons by using a Legal Entity Identifier. The use of a unique identifier improves the effectiveness of surveillance for possible instances of market abuse. National authorities cannot exempt small businesses from these EU requirements.