The Treasury Department has permanently repealed a requirement for American companies and individuals to report beneficial ownership information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network under the Corporate Transparency Act, according to an announcement from the department.
The repeal removes the reporting mandate that had required disclosure of beneficial owners to FinCEN, the Treasury's financial intelligence unit. Companies that had already filed beneficial ownership reports will have those filings deleted retroactively. No effective date for the change was specified in the announcement beyond publication in the Federal Register.
The Corporate Transparency Act, passed in 2020, had obligated U.S. companies, partnerships and limited liability companies to disclose the identity of individuals who own or control more than 25 percent of the entity. The reporting requirement was designed to combat money laundering and terrorist financing by creating a central repository of ownership data. FinCEN began accepting beneficial ownership reports in January 2024 and issued guidance on compliance deadlines throughout 2024 and 2025.
The Treasury's decision to eliminate the requirement reverses a compliance regime that had affected millions of entities across the country. Companies had faced penalties for non-compliance, ranging from civil fines to criminal charges for willful violations.
The repeal marks a significant shift in the federal government's approach to financial transparency enforcement. The beneficial ownership reporting system had been a centerpiece of anti-money-laundering policy at Treasury for two years, with FinCEN building infrastructure and issuing multiple rounds of guidance to help companies understand filing obligations.
The retroactive deletion of previously submitted reports means companies that complied with the mandate will have no record of their disclosures on file with FinCEN. Treasury did not specify whether companies would receive confirmation of deletion or how requests for information from law enforcement would be handled for reports that had been filed and subsequently removed.
This represents the complete reversal of a statutory requirement rather than a narrowing or waiver of its scope. The number of beneficial ownership reports filed before the repeal and the scope of entities affected by retroactive deletion remain undisclosed by Treasury or FinCEN.
