US Banks brand as "useless" the FinCEN proposal on access to the beneficial ownership registry

The American Bankers Association (ABA) and 51 state banker groups have requested that FinCEN remove its most recent proposal on access to the beneficial ownership registry.

The ABA criticized it as "fatally flawed" in a 12-page letter dated February 14th.

The ABA emphasized that the proposed regulation restricts banks' access to beneficial ownership information in the Registry to just complying with the 2016 Customer Due Diligence (CDD) rule — and not for additional BSA/AML purposes.

The ABA emphasized that it is evident that the proposal does not satisfy Congress's purpose of encouraging financial openness.

According to them, the Registry would be so limited that it will be "useless," resulting in a dual reporting regime for "both banks and small businesses."

The banks lobby stated that they remain "committed to engaging with FinCEN to support and promote the goals of the CTA (Corporate Transparency Act), namely, combating illicit finance through the establishment of the Registry," but "we believe that the proposal is fatally flawed and will not accomplish either of these objectives."

"FinCEN should withdraw the current proposal and engage with the financial services industry and small businesses to develop a new proposal that will better achieve the objectives of the CTA and AMLA (Anti Money Laundering Act)," they added.

The groups recommended that FinCEN improve the effectiveness of its framework and urged FinCEN to "engage with key stakeholders, including banks and small businesses, to develop a new proposal that would establish a more efficient and effective regulatory framework for both banks and reporting companies."

By fLEXI tEAM