A corporate entity opening an investment account with Saxo Bank in Dubai must have a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) because regulators worldwide require legal entities to be uniquely identified in financial transactions.
LEGAL ENTITY IDENTIFIER (LEI)
Note: LEI is a unique 20-character alphanumeric code required to trade and report derivative contracts within the European Economic Area (EEA), cf. Regulation (EU) nº 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on OTC derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories (EMIR).
LEI codes are issued by EU-endorsed Local Operating Units (LOUs). A list of endorsed LOUs is available at:
Saxo Bank’s policy is a direct response to these global rules. As a Danish-origin bank operating internationally (including in the Middle East), Saxo must abide by EU regulations. Saxo’s terms state that “all corporate clients…have to provide an LEI”.
If a corporate client of Saxo wants to trade products like futures, options, CFDs or other derivatives, Saxo cannot execute those trades or report them to regulators without the client’s LEI. Even for cash equity trades, MiFIR transaction reports require an LEI for legal entity clients.
Therefore, any corporate opening an account with Saxo Bank in Dubai is asked to furnish a valid LEI upfront, to ensure uninterrupted trading across all jurisdictions and products.