FinCEN seeks comments on beneficial ownership info requests

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network requested comments on the information it will collect from entities requesting access to beneficial ownership information under a framework it issued last month.

Background: The Corporate Transparency Act requires most U.S. corporate entities to report to FinCEN information about their beneficial owners—those who ultimately own or control the company.

Information Access Rule: A FinCEN final rule issued last month authorizes law enforcement, government agencies, and financial institutions and their regulators to obtain beneficial ownership information, or BOI, under certain circumstances. It also prescribes the circumstances under which BOI may be disclosed and how this information must be protected.

Request for Comment: In its notice released Monday, FinCEN sought comment on the information it will collect from persons requesting BOI from the agency. The proposal also includes the agency’s estimate of the burden involved in the information collection. In the proposal, FinCEN estimates the recordkeeping burden for financial institutions will be 6.4 million hours at a cost of $686 million in the first year and 1.9 million hours at a cost of $203 million per year afterward. Comments are due by April 1.

ICBA View: In comments to FinCEN last year, ICBA urged the agency to maximize community bank flexibility under the rule and continued its call for FinCEN to withdraw BOI requirements for banks now that it is required to collect this information directly from reporting companies.

More: Additional information is available via FinCEN’s BOI webpage.