Leading House Republicans are urging the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to adhere to Congressional intent when developing the new beneficial ownership reporting regime.
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Republican Leader of the House Financial Services Committee, along with Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), and the Republican Leader of the Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions Subcommittee, sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen regarding FinCEN’s recent announcement to begin implementing Division F of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act.
“Division F reflects the bipartisan agreement reached by House and Senate Republicans and Democrats to establish a new beneficial ownership reporting paradigm as part of the Department of Treasury’s anti-money laundering program. As FinCEN fulfills its responsibilities to promulgate new regulations, we cannot overemphasize the importance of adhering to congressional intent. To be clear, beneficial ownership information is the personally identifiable information (PII) of a company’s beneficial owners,” the GOP leaders wrote.
The lawmakers said the bipartisan provisions in Division F of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act aim to eliminate costly, onerous reporting requirements on small businesses while codifying protections to safeguard the PII of business owners.
“These provisions ensure the new reporting paradigm is focused on fighting bad actors such as human traffickers, money launderers, and State actors such as China … Thus, it is critical that FinCEN implement the statute as intended,” they wrote.