FinCEN releases long-awaited BOI access rule

FinCEN issued a final beneficial ownership information (BOI) Access Rule Dec. 20. The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) requires creation of a BOI database where companies and legal entities report BOI directly to FinCEN; financial institutions will have access to the database to obtain information necessary to meet their customer due diligence obligations.

“CUNA is highly supportive of the creation of the beneficial ownership database and hopes it will greatly ease meeting customer due diligence obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and its implementing regulations. The proposed permissible use of BOI obtained from the database was much too narrow. While we are still in the process of analyzing the final rule to fully understand its implications for credit unions, the rule does provide for a broader use of such information,” said Alexander Monterrubio, CUNA deputy chief advocacy officer for regulatory affairs.

The Access Rule is the second of three rulemakings to implement the CTA. FinCEN will next pursue a third rulemaking to revise its customer due diligence rule. FinCEN is expected to develop guidance material to aid in compliance with the Access Rule.