Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke at FinCEN headquarters January 8, and the office released a complete set of Frequently Asked Quaestions (FAQs) related to the new Beneficial Ownership reporting requirements. Excerpts of Ms. Yellen's speech below, followed by the FAQs:
"It’s been an exciting start to the year for FinCEN and for all of us, as the new beneficial ownership reporting requirement went into effect just last week. With this step, we’re closing a loophole and sending a clear message: The United States is not a haven for dirty money.
"The benefits of increasing corporate transparency through gathering beneficial ownership information—put simply, knowing who owns what—start with protecting our national security. Information on beneficial ownership will support our law enforcement colleagues in making arrests, prosecuting offenders, and seizing ill-gotten assets. It will also inform strategic, targeted actions, such as sanctions. Corporate transparency can bring economic benefits as well: protecting our financial system, reducing due diligence costs, enabling fair business competition, and increasing tax revenue.
"To mitigate these risks and realize these benefits, we’ve taken action. In 2021, the bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act was signed into law. Now, as of January 1st, many companies doing business here in the United States must report identifying information about who directly or indirectly owns or controls them. I am excited to report that, in just one week, we’ve received over 100,000 filings.
"The reporting process is simple, quick, and free. A small business shouldn’t need a certified public accountant or lawyer.
"Of course, FinCEN is also hard at work combatting other threats. In line with the U.S. Strategy on Countering Corruption, we are also pursuing increased transparency in our real estate and investment adviser sectors. We aim to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking early this year that will be an important step toward bringing greater transparency to residential real estate transactions, and we are considering next steps to address risks associated with commercial real estate.
"FinCEN is key to efforts to oppose Russia’s unjust war in Ukraine: monitoring attempts to evade sanctions and export controls and then using its findings to alert financial institutions and inform investigations. FinCEN has also been a critical part of Treasury’s response to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, including by bringing together global financial intelligence units to address illicit activity.
FinCEN has updated its Beneficial Ownership Information Frequently Asked Questions to include new information about reporting companies, beneficial owners, company applicants, reporting requirements, and reporting company exemptions, as well as updated information about FinCEN identifiers.
Frequently Asked Questions: https://www.fincen.gov/boi-faqs
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