The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network today posted an interim final rule removing the requirement for U.S. companies and persons to report beneficial ownership information to the agency under the Corporate Transparency Act. FinCEN previously announced March 21 was the deadline for most affected businesses to report. The interim rule amends the existing reporting rule, and will be effective once it is published in the Federal Register.
The Treasury Department announced earlier this month that it will not enforce any penalties or fines against U.S. companies for failing to report BOI and instead propose new rulemaking. Under the interim rule, FinCEN revised the definition of “reporting company” to apply only to entities formed under the law of a foreign country and that have registered to do business in any U.S. state or tribal jurisdiction. However, foreign entities will not be required to report any U.S. persons as beneficial owners, and U.S. persons will not be required to report BOI with respect to any such entity for which they are a beneficial owner, according to the agency.
The interim rule exempts entities previously known as “domestic reporting companies” from BOI reporting requirements.
Foreign reporting companies registered to do business in the U.S. before the date of publication of the interim rule must file BOI reports no later than 30 days from that date, FinCEN said. Foreign reporting companies registered to do business in the U.S. on or after the date of publication of the rule have 30 calendar days to file an initial BOI report after receiving notice that their registration is effective.
FinCEN is accepting comments on this interim final rule and intends to finalize it later this year.
