A group of 51 state bankers associations today wrote to House Financial Services Committee leaders in support of H.R. 2513, a bill introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) calling for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to create a database of beneficial ownership information. The bipartisan bill –which would require corporations and limited liability companies to self-report beneficial owners to FinCEN at the time of formation—is expected to be considered by the committee this week.
“While financial institutions go to great lengths to know their customer and follow all requirements to know the beneficial owner, there is no formal system in place to ensure that shell companies are not hiding money to facilitate illegal activities,” the associations wrote. They added that “while this legislation may be transformative for the United States, it would simply bring the U.S. in line with other developed countries.”
