S. 1995

119 S1995 IS: FinCEN–SBA Coordination on Beneficial Ownership Registration Act
 U.S. Senate
 2025-06-09
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
  II
  119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
  S. 1995
  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
  June 9, 2025
  Mr. Markey  (for himself,  Ms. Warren , and  Mr.
  Whitehouse ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
  referred to the  Committee on Small Business
  and Entrepreneurship
  A BILL
To require the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the
  Administrator of the Small Business Administration to enter into a memorandum of
  understanding to ensure the dissemination of covered information, and for other
  purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   FinCEN–SBA Coordination on Beneficial Ownership Registration Act  .
2.
Sense of Congress
It is the sense of Congress that—
(1)
malign actors seek to conceal their ownership of corporations, limited liability companies, or other similar entities in the United States to facilitate illicit activity, including money laundering, the financing of terrorism, proliferation financing, serious tax fraud, human and drug trafficking, counterfeiting, piracy, securities fraud, financial fraud, and acts of foreign corruption, harming the national security interests of the United States and allies of the United States;
(2)
Federal legislation providing for the collection of beneficial ownership information for corporations, limited liability companies, or other similar entities formed under the laws of the States is needed to—
(A)
set a clear, Federal standard for incorporation practices;
(B)
protect vital United States national security interests;
(C)
protect interstate and foreign commerce;
(D)
better enable critical national security, intelligence, and law enforcement efforts to counter money laundering, the financing of terrorism, and other illicit activity; and
(E)
bring the United States into compliance with international anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism standards;
(3)
Federal legislation providing for the collection of beneficial ownership information is needed to protect critical law enforcement and national security efforts;
(4)
the Secretary of the Treasury and the Administrator should work with small business concerns and other reporting companies to provide clarity and minimize burdens on them while still generating a highly useful database;
(5)
an overwhelming bipartisan majority of Congress codified the provisions of paragraphs (1) through (4) in the enactment of the Corporate Transparency Act (title LXIV of division F of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 ( Public Law 116–283 ; 134 Stat. 4604)); and
(6)
full implementation of the Corporate Transparency Act is critical to further the provisions of paragraphs (1) through (4).
3.
Definitions
In this Act:
(1)
Administration; Administrator
The terms  Administration  and  Administrator  mean the Small Business Administration and the Administrator thereof, respectively.
(2)
Beneficial ownership requirements
The term  beneficial ownership requirements  means the requirements under section 5336 of title 31, United States Code.
(3)
Covered agencies
The term  covered agencies  means FinCEN and the Administration.
(4)
Covered information
The term  covered information  means information developed by FinCEN regarding the beneficial ownership information reporting requirements under section 5336 of title 31, United States Code.
(5)
Director
The term  Director  means the Director of FinCEN.
(6)
FinCEN
The term  FinCEN  means the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network described in section 310 of title 31, United States Code.
(7)
Reporting company
The term  reporting company  has the meaning given the term in section 5336 of title 31, United States Code.
(8)
Resource partner
The term  resource partner  means—
(A)
a small business development center;
(B)
a women’s business center described in section 29 of the Small Business Act ( 15 U.S.C. 656 ); and
(C)
Veteran Business Outreach Centers described in section 32 of the Small Business Act ( 15 U.S.C. 657b ).
(9)
Small business concern; small business development center
The terms  small business concern  and  small business development center  have the meanings given those terms in section 3 of the Small Business Act ( 15 U.S.C. 632 ).
4.
Memorandum of understanding to ensure the dissemination of covered
  information
(a)
Meeting
Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator and the Director shall meet to discuss the contents of the memorandum of understanding required by subsection (b).
(b)
Memorandum of understanding
Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator and the Director shall enter into a written memorandum of understanding to jointly carry out the following activities:
(1)
Disseminating covered information to reporting companies and trade associations and other entities that represent small business concerns, including dissemination through resource partners of the Administration.
(2)
Ensuring covered information is made available in English, Spanish, and any additional languages as jointly determined by the Director and the Administrator.
(3)
Ensuring that the homepage of the website of the Administration includes a link to the relevant webpages of FinCEN relating to beneficial ownership requirements and registration for reporting companies.
(4)
Implementing a plan to identify and counter scams or other fraudulent schemes related to, or purporting to be, beneficial ownership reporting, and to educate reporting companies and trade associations and other entities that represent small business concerns about such scams or fraudulent schemes.
(5)
Hosting in-person town halls and webinars—
(A)
organized by the Administrator, acting through national or regional offices of the Administration;
(B)
that feature presentations by FinCEN staff on compliance with beneficial ownership requirements; and
(C)
that are advertised to reporting companies and trade associations and other entities that represent small business concerns.
(6)
Implementing a plan to use field offices of the Administration and Domestic Liaisons of FinCEN for the in-person town halls and webinars described in paragraph (5).
(7)
Any other activities the Director and the Administrator determine necessary to increase the number of reporting companies in compliance with beneficial ownership requirements.
(c)
Public availability of memorandum of understanding
Not later than 7 days after the date on which the Director and Administrator enter into a memorandum of understanding under subsection (b), the Director and the Administrator shall each make the memorandum publicly available on a website of FinCEN and the Administration, respectively.
(d)
Meetings
Not later than 6 months after the date on which the Director and Administrator enter into a memorandum of understanding under subsection (b), and every 6 months thereafter, the Director (or a designee) and the Administrator (or a designee) shall review the following:
(1)
Issues related to, and continued coordination on, the requirements of the memorandum.
(2)
Challenges associated with increasing the number of reporting companies in compliance with beneficial ownership requirements.
(3)
Reasons provided by reporting companies to covered agencies for failing to comply with beneficial ownership requirements.
(4)
Strategies for collaboration to address the reasons described in paragraph (3).
(5)
Any other topics the Director and the Administrator determine necessary.
(e)
Compensation
The Director (or a designee) and the Administrator (or a designee) may not receive compensation for attending a meeting required by subsection (d).
5.
Reports
Not later than 30 days after the date on which the Director and Administrator enter into a memorandum of understanding under section 4(b), and every 30 days thereafter, the Director and the Administrator shall jointly submit to the Committees on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committees on Small Business and Financial Services of the House of Representatives a report that includes the following:
(1)
For the 30-day period preceding the date of the report—
(A)
a description of the actions taken under the memorandum of understanding to provide outreach to reporting companies that are required to, but have failed to, comply with beneficial ownership requirements;
(B)
the estimated number of reporting companies that have received covered information or other assistance relating to beneficial ownership requirements from the Administration or FinCEN as a result of actions taken pursuant to the memorandum of understanding; and
(C)
the number of reporting companies in compliance with beneficial ownership requirements.
(2)
A description of the actions the Director and the Administrator plan to take under the memorandum of understanding during the 30-day period following the date of the report to provide covered information to reporting companies that have failed to comply with beneficial ownership requirements.