The Roundtable signed onto a letter yesterday with approximately 70 business groups that urges Congress to pass a one-year delay in implementing burdensome “beneficial ownership” reporting requirements. (Coalition letter and PoliticoPro, Nov. 16)

FinCEN Enforcement

• The new regulations—scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2024 under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA)—would be implemented by Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

• The CTA requires the submission of regular reports to the federal government identifying the beneficial owners of businesses and other legal entities. The new law defines the targeted entities as those having 20 or fewer employees and under $5 million in revenue, which would impact nearly every small business in the nation.

• The CTA includes civil and criminal penalties of up to $10,000 and two years of jail time for failing to comply.

• The scope of the data collection is expansive. Covered entities will be required to provide the personal information of owners, board members, senior employees, attorneys, and more, then monitor the information and report all changes. FinCEN expects to receive more than 32 million separate reports in 2024, with an additional five to six million filings each year thereafter.

• The coalition letter states, “A year’s delay will provide FinCEN and the business community with more time to educate owners of their new obligations. It will also give Congress and FinCEN time to review the new rules to ensure they are successful.”

AICPA & Updated FAQs

• This week’s letter also notes that the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) recently requested a one-year delay from FinCEN. (AICPA coalition letter, Oct. 30)

• AICPA noted in its letter that FinCEN significantly underestimated the cost burdens associated with the new reporting regime, relied on vague and arbitrary standards in laying out the criminal and civil penalties under the statute, and implemented filing deadlines for newly-formed entities that in some cases are impossible to meet.

• On Oct. 13, The Real Estate Roundtable and a coalition of eight other national real estate groups urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to delay implementation of the new beneficial ownership rule. (Roundtable Weekly, Oct. 20 and Industry coalition letter)

Yesterday, FinCEN issued updates to its beneficial ownership “frequently asked questions.” The FAQs include new information about the reporting process, reporting companies, beneficial owners, company applicants, reporting requirements, initial reports, and reporting company exemptions. It also includes new resources related to beneficial owners, initial reports, FinCEN identifiers, and third-party service providers. (.pdf version of the FAQs)

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