Treasury Department Confirms Commitment to Issue CTA Rules for Year-end Implementation

A Treasury Department official confirmed this week the government's commitment to issue CTA rules to implementation by year-end.  

The Corporate Transparency Act — passed by Congress when it overrode President Trump's veto - set December 31, 2021 as the deadline to implement the new law.  The CTA hopes to create a database of corporations, limited-liability companies and other structures to fight money laundering.  When the rules are implemented, corporations, limited liability companies and similar entities will need to file beneficial ownership reports with FinCEN - the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.  

The Corporate Transparency Act is "the most sweeping overhaul of financial crimes safeguards in decades," said Deborah Connor, chief of the U.S. Justice Department's Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section. Congress expects that nearly 20 million entities will file beneficial ownership reports.  

FinCEN previously issued an Advanced Notice of Public Rulemaking in May, 2021, outlining several key questions raised by the statute.  

By stating its intention to issue a Notice of Public Rulemaking later this summer, FinCEN is announcing its intention to implement the CTA by the statute's December 31, 2021 deadline. 

Update: On September 29, 2022 FinCEN issued its Final Rule on beneficial ownership reporting, setting the implementation date at January 1, 2024.