Beneficial Ownership Reporting Suspended for “U.S. Citizens and Domestic Reporting Companies”

The Treasury Department announced on March 2nd the suspension of enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act against U.S. citizens and domestic reporting companies.

Specifically, the Treasury Department stated that it will not enforce any penalties or fines against U.S. citizens or domestic reporting companies or their beneficial owners. The Treasury Department plans to issue a proposed rule to limit reporting to foreign reporting companies only.

The Corporate Transparency Act is the focus of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) under the Treasury Department. The goal of FinCen was to identify underlying entity ownership to make it harder to launder illicit funds and purchase assets. The reporting requirement has been widely criticized for being overly broad and invasive, and was the subject of extensive litigation within the federal courts.