People take pictures of the American Treasury Department in Washington, DC, on February 6, 2025.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty images
The Ministry of Finance has set a new deadline of 21 March for millions of companies to meet a new reporting requirement about “useful information about useful ownership”, after a judicial order allowed the federal agency to maintain the measure.
The Corporate Transparency Act, which adopted the congress in 2021, requires small companies to disclose the identity of people who possess or check the company directly or indirectly. The measure is intended to prevent criminals from hiding illegal activities that are carried out via Shell companies or opaque ownership structures according to the treasury.
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Companies have had a certain degree of whiplash from the on-a-again-off-again deadlines to submit BOI reports. A series of judicial orders had prevented the treasury to force the measure, only to see courts hit those judgments.
The American court for the eastern district of Texas On 18 February, a national order has abolished that the enforcement network of the financial crimes, known as Fincen, which was part of the treasury, had elevated the enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act.
Space for more delays?
According to federal estimates, the BOI reporting measure applies to around 32.6 million companies, including certain companies, companies with limited liability and others.
Companies and owners who do not adhere to the reports rules Possibly subject to Civil fines of a maximum of $ 591 per day, adapted for inflation. They can also get up to $ 10,000 in criminal fines and a maximum of two years in prison.
Fincen left the possibility of further delays on the table, even when it expanded its previous reporting period by 30 days.
“FINCEN will provide an update for a further change to this deadline before that time, and that reporting companies may need extra time to meet their BOI reporting obligations once this update has been provided,” according to an 18 February Fint notification.
Fincen also said that it would give priority to enforcement for companies that “pose the most important risks of national security”.