As 2024 approaches, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a number of updates and guidance in anticipation of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) becoming effective on January 1, 2024. The CTA and accompanying regulations require a broad range of companies to report information about their beneficial owners to FinCEN.

Perhaps most importantly, on November 29, FinCEN issued guidance providing that reporting companies created or registered in 2024 will have 90 days after they are formed, increased from the initial 30-day deadline, to report their beneficial ownership information to FinCEN. Pre-existing companies still have until the end of 2024 to file their initial reports. In 2025, the 30-day deadline will again apply to newly formed companies.

On December 21, FinCEN issued rules clarifying who will have access to information disclosed in beneficial owner information reports and how the information will be safeguarded. Under the rule, federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies, foreign governments, and financial institutions would be able to obtain the information, but it would be housed in a secure registry, and many of those seeking information would have to make formal requests and face other restrictions. Some requesters will have to obtain court orders to get the information or work through intermediaries.

On December 12, 2023, FinCEN updated the FAQs on its website to clarify that the reporting company is responsible for the accuracy of the information contained in the company’s beneficial owner information report, even if the information was provided by a third party or the company uses a third party service provider to input information in the company’s report.