The Treasury Department has finalized a rule that permanently frees U.S. companies and U.S. persons from beneficial ownership reporting, a long-sought win for the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA).
The rule, issued by the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), revises beneficial ownership information reporting under the Corporate Transparency Act.
The rule took effect August 14 and directs FinCEN to delete, as far as practicable, information already gathered from U.S. companies and individuals. Businesses do not need to act for that to happen.
According to FinCEN estimates, about 15 million domestic businesses filed reports before the requirements were narrowed. The agency expects the exemptions to cut annual compliance burdens by roughly 53 million hours and $9 billion.
For NLBMDA, the rule marks a major step in its longstanding campaign for relief from the law. The association joined other business groups in pressing the Administration to exempt domestic businesses, make those protections final and erase information already collected.
NLBMDA also backs H.R. 425, the Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act, which would largely write the current foreign-focused reporting framework into law for greater long-term certainty. The House Financial Services Committee approved the bill earlier this year, and it awaits a full House vote.