Sponsors (7)
Last progress June 6, 2025 (8 months ago)
Introduced on June 6, 2025 by Nydia M. Velázquez
Requires the Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Director to quickly sign and publish a written memorandum of understanding (MOU) to coordinate outreach, information-sharing, and assistance related to beneficial ownership reporting. The MOU must cover outreach methods (including language access and scam-prevention), website links, use of field offices and liaisons, and must be reviewed at least every six months. Also requires joint progress reports to certain congressional committees within 30 days after the MOU is signed and every 30 days thereafter, with counts/estimates of companies reached and compliance status, a description of recent outreach and assistance, and plans for the next 30 days.
Malign actors seek to hide their ownership of corporations, limited liability companies, or similar entities in the United States to facilitate illicit activity (examples listed include money laundering, financing of terrorism, proliferation financing, serious tax fraud, human and drug trafficking, counterfeiting, piracy, securities fraud, financial fraud, and acts of foreign corruption), harming U.S. national security interests and allies of the United States.
Federal legislation to collect beneficial ownership information for corporations, limited liability companies, or other similar entities formed under State law is needed to set a clear Federal standard for incorporation practices.
Federal legislation to collect beneficial ownership information is needed to protect vital United States national security interests.
Federal legislation to collect beneficial ownership information is needed to protect interstate and foreign commerce.
Federal legislation to collect beneficial ownership information is needed to better enable national security, intelligence, and law enforcement efforts to counter money laundering, financing of terrorism, and other illicit activity.
Who is affected and how:
Businesses and reporting companies: Businesses that must file beneficial ownership information (including many small businesses) will be indirectly affected by more coordinated outreach, clearer guidance, multilingual assistance, and increased use of SBA field offices and resource partners. This should improve awareness and ease compliance, though increased outreach may also highlight enforcement expectations.
Small businesses: Targeted outreach and SBA involvement aim to reduce procedural burdens and provide tailored assistance. Small firms may receive more hands-on help (in-person events, field office support) to fulfill reporting obligations.
FinCEN and SBA (agency operations): Both agencies must allocate staff time to negotiate, publish, and regularly review the MOU, run coordinated outreach campaigns, and prepare frequent joint reports to Congress. That creates recurring administrative workload and modest operational costs (not specifically funded here).
Law enforcement and national security stakeholders: Improved coordination and outreach are intended to increase accuracy and completeness of beneficial ownership information available to authorities, aiding anti-money-laundering, counterterrorism financing, and other investigations.
Resource partners and intermediaries (e.g., SBA field offices, Small Business Development Centers, SCORE): These organizations will be more explicitly integrated into outreach plans and may take on increased role helping filers, requiring training and coordination.
Potential benefits and risks:
Overall effect: Mostly administrative—aimed at improving implementation and compliance for existing beneficial ownership law, with likely modest near-term agency burden and longer-term gains for law enforcement and regulatory clarity.
Updated 2 days ago
Last progress June 9, 2025 (8 months ago)
Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Small Business, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.