FinCEN announced today that it was
issuing final regulations to implement the Corporate Transparency Act.
In its press release, Acting FinCEN Director Himamauli Das said, "For too long, it has been far too easy for criminals, Russian
oligarchs, and other bad actors to fund their illicit activity by hiding and
moving money through anonymous shell companies and other corporate structures
right here in the United States. This final rule is a significant step forward in our efforts to support
national security, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies in their work to
curb illicit activities. The final rule will also play an important role in
protecting American taxpayers and businesses who play by the rules, but are
repeatedly hurt by criminals that use companies for illegal reasons."
The final rule is intended to address deficiencies in the U.S. anti-money
laundering regime as identified by the Financial Action Task Force—the
international standard-setting body for anti-money laundering and countering
the financing of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
standards—and delivers on commitments made by the United States ahead of the
December 2021 Summit for Democracy and in the first-ever U.S. Strategy on
Countering Corruption.
The rule is effective January 1, 2024. Reporting companies
created or registered before January 1, 2024, will have one year (until January
1, 2025) to file their initial reports, while reporting companies created or
registered after January 1, 2024, will have 30 days after creation or
registration to file their initial reports. Once the initial report has been
filed, both existing and new reporting companies will have to file updates
within 30 days of a change in their beneficial ownership information. FinCEN is
committed to implementing these statutory obligations in a robust manner while
minimizing burdens on reporting companies.
The reporting rule is one of three rulemakings planned to implement the CTA. FinCEN will engage in additional rulemakings to: (1) establish rules for who may access beneficial ownership information, for what purposes, and what safeguards will be required to ensure that the information is secured and protected; and (2) revise FinCEN's customer due diligence rule. In addition, FinCEN continues to develop the infrastructure to administer these requirements, including the information technology system that will be used to store beneficial ownership information in accordance with the strict security and confidentiality requirements of the CTA.
About The Author

Jonathan Wilson is the co-founder of FinCEN Report Company with 31 years of experience in corporate, M&A and securities matters. He is the author of The Corporate Transparency Act Compliance Guide (to be published by Lexis Nexis in the summer of 2023) and the Lexis Practical Guidance Practice Note on the Corporate Transparency Act.