FinCEN drops BOI requirement for U.S. companies, persons

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a final interim rule that eliminates beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting obligations for U.S.-based companies and persons.

Transparency advocates say the move guts an anti-money laundering initiative contained in the Corporate Transparency Act, while small business lobbying groups that had sued to stop the rule from being implemented, applauded the move as freeing American small businesses from being subject to an “onerous and invasive” requirement.

FinCEN’s interim final rule, issued Friday, removed the requirement for U.S. companies and U.S. persons to report BOI to FinCEN under the CTA. In a press release, FinCEN said Friday that it will accept public comments on the rule and intends to finalize it later this year. On March 2, FinCEN announced its plan to narrow the BOI requirements and drop all penalties for entities failing to report their BOI.