WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03), along with House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (NC-10), House Committee on Small Business Chairman Roger Williams (TX-25), and House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Chairman Steve Womack (AR-03), sent a letter to Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Acting Director Himamauli Das and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen demanding that FinCEN outline its plan for educating small businesses about their reporting responsibilities as they pertain to the agency’s forthcoming beneficial ownership proposed rule.

Read the full letter here.

Read excerpts from the letter below:

“We write today to express our concerns with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) planned roll out to inform reporting companies of their forthcoming obligations to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN. Specifically, we believe that press releases are insufficient to ensure that the approximately 32.6 million small business that will be expected to comply in 2024 understand their upcoming responsibilities.

“As you know, the impending Beneficial Ownership Information collection rule will go into effect January 1, 2024. It is concerning that with six months until its effective date, FinCEN has yet to lay out a clear plan for engagement. It is highly unlikely that the 32 million small business owners know what FinCEN is let alone know to look for a press release on FinCEN’s website. As a result, there is a real possibility that these small businesses could be held civilly or criminally liable for noncompliance.

“To that end, we would like to better understand FinCEN’s plans to educate small businesses.”