HONGKONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 15March 2019 - GS1 Hong Kongis now able to assist organisations with the obtaining and ongoing renewal ofLegal Entity Identifiers (LEIs), ensuring its customers' need to fulfil newregulatory reporting requirements. Following ajoint consultation on further enhancements to the over-the-counter (OTC)derivatives regulatory regime in Hong Kong, the Hong KongMonetary Authority (HKMA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) willstart to mandate the use of LEIs in OTC derivative trade reporting beginning 1April 2019. In addition, all legal entities operating in financial markets inEurope must obtain an LEI as of 3 January, 2018.

GS1has more than 40 years of experience in the identification of unique productsand entities in various sectors. It has a global network of MemberOrganisations operating in 112 countries. The organisation now extends itsactivities to the financial markets, offering customers a network of local registrationagents, with expertise in data validation and knowledge of local language, lawsand regulations.

GS1Hong Kong will assist companies or individuals involved in financial trading,with obtaining the necessary LEI in cooperation with the GLEIF accredited LEIissuer, GS1's Global Unit. (LEI application link: https://www.lei.direct/lei-services/register-right-away/)

What is an LEI?

AnLEI is a unique, 20-digit alpha-numeric code based on the ISO 17442 standard,that enables the identification of legal entities participating in financialtransactions. LEIs can greatly enhance transparency, security and trust for allmarket participants. For more information about LEI, please visit: https://www.gs1hk.org/our-services/legal-entity-identifier/about/overview.

The major benefits ofGS1 Hong Kong's LEI services include:

• High Accuracy in data validation checks as GS1 HongKong have been doing this all along;
• Global support due to GS1's globalnetwork of Local Registration Agents, providing "one-stop" service forcompanies or organisations that need LEIs issued in multiple countries;
• Ease in communications as we know the local language,supporting companies in English, Mandarin and other dialects;
• Efficiency in the LEI issuance as a result of all of theabove.

"Wewanted to participate in this initiative as part of the larger collectivepublic/private sector effort around the world to provide greater visibilityinto the entire global financial system," said Anna Lin, Chief Executiveof GS1 Hong Kong. "Acting as a registration agent, we are proud to be ableto support even more organisations of all types by providing themwith a unique LEI," concludes Anna.

For enquiry about the LEI registration, pleasecontact 2863 9777 or lei@gs1hk.org.

About GS1 Hong Kong

Foundedby the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce in 1989, GS1 Hong Kong is thelocal chapter of GS1®, a not-for-profit, standards organisation that developsand drives adoption of easy-to-implement global standards for business touniquely identify, accurately capture and automatically share vital informationabout products, locations and assets. Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, GS1has over 110 national chapters in 150 countries.

GS1Hong Kong's mission is to empower business to grow and to improve efficiency,safety, authenticity and sustainability across multiple sectors and facilitatescommerce connectivity through the provision of a full spectrum of platforms,solutions and services based on our global standards. We provide a trustedfoundation for accurate, sharable, searchable and linkable data and for theresponsible use of the technologies behind its standards. We also engage withcommunities of trading partners, industry organisations, government, andtechnology providers to understand and respond to their business needs throughthe adoption and implementation of global standards.

Currently,GS1 Hong Kong has around 8,000 corporate members covering close to 20industries including retail consumer goods, food and food services, healthcare,apparel, logistics as well as information and technology.

Formore information about GS1 Hong Kong, please visit www.gs1hk.org.