What Happens When an LEI Lapses?
An LEI must be renewed every year. If renewal is missed, the LEI status changes from "Issued" to "Lapsed." It's important to understand what that means.
What "lapsed" means
A lapsed LEI is not deleted — the code continues to exist in the database. Only the status changes, signalling that the data behind it has not been re-confirmed and may be out of date.
Why it's a problem
In practice, a lapsed LEI can block transactions just as effectively as having none. Many trading and reporting systems accept only active LEIs, so a "lapsed" status can stop your operations at exactly the wrong moment.
How to fix it
The fix is simply to renew. Once the data is confirmed, the status returns to "Issued." To avoid it in future, consider managed renewals or multi-year registration. (See How to renew an LEI and Multi-year LEI registration.)
See also How to look up and verify an LEI.