LEI for an AJ Bell company, charity or SSAS dealing account

Checked on 14 November 2026 Independent guide

AJ Bell asks the nominated contact of a Limited Company Dealing Account, a charity account or a dealing account that belongs to a small self-administered scheme (SSAS) for a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) if the account is to trade financial instruments. Without one, AJ Bell says, the account can still trade funds such as unit trusts and OEICs.

What AJ Bell asks for

  • An LEI is needed to trade financial instruments in a Limited Company Dealing Account, a charity account or a dealing account that is part of a SSAS. AJ Bell’s examples of financial instruments are shares, bonds, collective investment schemes and derivatives.
  • Without an LEI, the account can still trade funds such as unit trusts and OEICs.
  • The application form for a new dealing account asks whether you have an LEI.
  • For a SSAS, the LEI is registered for the scheme, not for the employer or for you personally, and one LEI covers the scheme.
  • For a company or charity account, the LEI is applied for in the name of the company or charity.
  • The LEI has to be renewed every year.

This is an independent guide: AJ Bell has not reviewed or endorsed it. It summarises what AJ Bell publishes on its own website, as read on 14 November 2026. If the two differ, the firm’s own page applies.

How AJ Bell gets your LEI

Once you have the LEI, or if you already had one, AJ Bell asks you to send it by email or by letter and to quote your AJ Bell account number. The address is on AJ Bell’s own page, linked above.

Legal basis

  • Under UK MiFIR, an investment firm cannot execute a trade in shares, bonds, ETFs or other reportable instruments for a client that is eligible for an LEI and does not have one. The FCA names companies, charities and trusts among the clients this covers. FCA: UK MiFIR legal entity identifiers
  • The rule itself is short: a firm shall not provide a service that triggers a transaction report before it has the client’s LEI. RTS 22, Article 13(2), as kept in UK law
  • Under UK EMIR, both sides of a derivative contract are reported, so every UK counterparty to a derivative needs an LEI. FCA: UK EMIR reporting obligation
  • A private individual investing in their own name does not need an LEI and is identified by a national identifier instead. RTS 22, Article 6, as kept in UK law

How to apply

You are not tied to an issuer your bank or broker mentions. GLEIF, the foundation that oversees the system, says a legal entity can use any issuer accredited for its jurisdiction, in its own country or abroad. Whoever issues it, an LEI is the same 20-character code and identifies one legal entity, so one LEI serves every bank and broker the organisation uses.

LEI Universal is a registration agency, not an issuer: an LEI ordered here is issued by a GLEIF-accredited issuer.

  1. Enter the name or registration number in the application form. Where the register is connected, the details are filled in for you.
  2. Check the name, registration number and address, and state whether a parent company consolidates the entity.
  3. Confirm that you may act for the entity, then pay. If a signed authorisation is needed, you sign it online.
  4. The details are checked against the register. Once they are confirmed, the LEI is issued and sent to you by email.

An entity can only have one LEI. Check whether it already has one

Apply for an LEI

Frequently asked questions

Can an AJ Bell company account trade without an LEI?

According to AJ Bell, only in funds such as unit trusts and OEICs. Trading financial instruments such as shares and bonds needs the LEI first.

Whose name goes on the LEI for a SSAS?

The scheme’s. AJ Bell says to register the LEI for the SSAS, not for the employer or for yourself, and that the scheme needs only one.

Sources

Other banks and brokers

LEI by company type