Washington, DC – Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) released the following statement cheering the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) final rule outlining access to company ownership information collected pursuant to the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), the most important anti-money laundering law in two decades:
“FinCEN’s final rule is a marked improvement over its earlier proposal, and will at long last help law enforcement and national security officials identify the kingpins behind the webs of American shell companies that facilitate all manner of corruption and criminality. I applaud the Treasury Department for thoughtfully considering and incorporating the constructive feedback the agency received during the rulemaking process.”
Senators Whitehouse, Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) had submitted a comment letter to FinCEN in March raising concerns about the implementation of the CTA and asking the agency to track closer to congressional intent in the final rule.
Whitehouse, the Senate leader in the fight against international kleptocracy and corruption, helped pass the CTA in late 2020 to combat kleptocracy by clamping down on criminals and foreign enemies hiding assets from law enforcement, national security, and tax authorities behind webs of anonymous companies formed in the United States. The legislation requires FinCEN to obtain information on the true owners of most corporations and LLCs formed or registered to do business in the United States, and to set up a directory to help law enforcement, national security officials, and—with customer consent—financial institutions access that information when necessary. Last year, FinCEN finalized a rule detailing the reporting requirements for businesses under the Corporate Transparency Act. Today’s final rule establishes the framework for access to and protection of the information that is reported to FinCEN.
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Meaghan McCabe, (202) 224-2921
