BW&TBLOG

Immediate Release: December 21, 2023

Today, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a final rule implementing the access and safeguard provisions of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) (the “Access Rule”). The Access Rule prescribes the circumstances under which beneficial ownership information (BOI) reported to FinCEN may be disclosed to authorized BOI recipients, and how it must be protected. The Access Rule reflects FinCEN’s commitment to creating a highly useful database for authorized BOI recipients while protecting this sensitive information from unauthorized disclosure.

In accordance with the CTA, the Access Rule provides access to BOI to Federal agencies engaged in national security, intelligence, or law enforcement activity; State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies with court authorization; foreign law enforcement agencies, judges, prosecutors, and other authorities that meet specific criteria; financial institutions with customer due diligence requirements and regulators supervising them for compliance with such requirements; and U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) officers and employees. Each category of authorized recipients is subject to security and confidentiality protocols aligned with applicable access and use provisions.

This Access Rule follows the final BOI Reporting Rule FinCEN issued on September 30, 2022, which requires certain corporations, limited liability companies, and other similar entities created in or registered to do business in the United States to report to FinCEN information about themselves, their beneficial owners, and, in some cases, their company applicants to help authorized BOI recipients protect national security, enforce laws, and promote other policy objectives identified in the CTA. For more information about the BOI Reporting Rule, please see www.fincen.gov/boi.

The Access Rule reflects FinCEN’s careful consideration of detailed public comments received in response to its December 16, 2022 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the topic, along with extensive interagency consultations. The following provides a general overview of the key elements of the Access Rule and related administrative details. Please refer to the full rule for further details, including important definitions.

Source: www.fincen.gov