The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network should take steps to improve the ability of inspectors general to determine companies’ beneficial owners, which would be useful in fraud detection efforts, the U.S. Government Accountability Office concluded in a recent report.
Last year, FinCEN began collecting beneficial ownership information, although the Trump administration has since stopped collecting information for U.S.-based companies, instead requiring only foreign companies to report BOI. GAO surveyed Offices of Inspectors General, or OIGs, and found they were unclear about accessing the data and exactly how company registry data could be used. Still, most thought BOI would be useful in their fraud detection and response efforts.
The GAO recommended that FinCEN communicate with the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency regarding OIGs’ access to the company registry. The agency also should communicate how to use company registry data beyond criminal investigations and share reported limitations in using company registry data, it said.
