WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03) lead Republican on the House Consumer Protection Financial & Institutions Subcommittee and Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10), lead Republican on the House Financial Services Committee sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urging the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to adhere to Congressional intent when implementing the updated beneficial ownership reporting regime that will protect American small businesses and provide increased FinCEN accountability. Excerpts and the link to the full letter can be found below. 

“Division F [of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act] reflects the bipartisan agreement reached by House and Senate Republicans and Democrats to establish a new beneficial ownership reporting paradigm as part of the Department of Treasury’s anti-money laundering program. As FinCEN fulfills its responsibilities to promulgate new regulations, we cannot over emphasize the importance of adhering to congressional intent.

“To be clear, beneficial ownership information is the personally identifiable information (PII) of a company’s beneficial owners. The bipartisan, bicameral provisions contained in Division F are specifically aimed at eliminating costly, onerous reporting requirements on small businesses while codifying strong protections to safeguard the PII of business owners. These provisions ensure the new reporting paradigm is focused on fighting bad actors such as human traffickers, money launderers, and State actors such as China.”

Read the full letter HERE.

Background: Congressman Luetkemeyer served as a 2021 NDAA conferee in December 2020 to ensure provisions were included to enhance our nation’s defense against illicit finance and money laundering in order to maintain America’s financial security. This included legislation that would force Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to collect beneficial ownership information with minimal effort or inconvenience to businesses as America’s economic recovery continues.