SWIFT is a cooperative society under Belgian law and it is owned by its member financial institutions.
http://www.bis.org/bcbs/index.htm
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication operates a worldwide financial messaging network which exchanges messages between member banks and other financial institutions.
Key Facts
A global solution to provide Legal Entity Identifiers for all parties to financial contracts was proposed by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and SWIFT, and consequently recommended by the umbrella Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA) trade association. In this solution, SWIFT would act as the registration authority, acting on behalf of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to assign the ISO 17442 LEI standard. DTCC would act as the facilities manager which will receive, review and publish entity information.
Who it affects
All parties to financial contracts.
Wikipedia Entry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWIFT