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McHenry, Lawmakers Demand Clarity from FinCEN, Treasury Regarding Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements
Washington,
June 8, 2023 -
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (NC-10), along with National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03), House Committee on Small Business Chairman Roger Williams (TX-25), and House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Chairman Steve Womack (AR-03), sent a letter to Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Acting Director Himamauli Das and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen demanding that FinCEN outline its plan for educating small businesses about their reporting responsibilities as they pertain to the agency’s forthcoming beneficial ownership proposed rule.
This letter builds on Chairman McHenry's work to ensure that beneficial ownership rulemaking adheres to Congressional intent, ensuring reporting companies cannot avoid transparency and preventing FinCEN from instituting an overly burdensome compliance regime on small businesses or infringing on Americans’ privacy rights.
Read the full letter here.
Read excerpts from the letter below:
“We write today to express our concerns with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) planned roll out to inform reporting companies of their forthcoming obligations to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN. Specifically, we believe that press releases are insufficient to ensure that the approximately 32.6 million small business that will be expected to comply in 2024 understand their upcoming responsibilities.
“As you know, the impending Beneficial Ownership Information collection rule will go into effect January 1, 2024. It is concerning that with six months until its effective date, FinCEN has yet to lay out a clear plan for engagement. It is highly unlikely that the 32 million small business owners know what FinCEN is let alone know to look for a press release on FinCEN’s website. As a result, there is a real possibility that these small businesses could be held civilly or criminally liable for noncompliance.
“To that end, we would like to better understand FinCEN’s plans to educate small businesses.”
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