S. 1995 — FinCEN–SBA Coordination on Beneficial Ownership Registration Act

This section expresses the sense of Congress that malign actors conceal ownership of U.S. corporations, limited liability companies, and similar entities to facilitate illicit activities (e.g., money laundering, terrorism financing, tax fraud, trafficking); that federal collection of beneficial ownership information is needed to set standards, protect national security and commerce, aid law enforcement, and meet international anti-money laundering standards; and that full implementation of the Corporate Transparency Act—previously enacted with bipartisan support—is critical. (The provision also states that the Secretary of the Treasury and the Administrator should minimize burdens on small businesses and other reporting companies.)

This section defines nine terms used in the Act, including (1) "covered agencies" as the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Small Business Administration (SBA); (2) "resource partner" as a small business development center, a women's business center under section 29 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656), or a Veteran Business Outreach Center under section 32 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657b); and (3) "small business concern" and "small business development center" as defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632). Other defined terms include "beneficial ownership requirements," "covered information," "reporting company," and the standard abbreviations for SBA, FinCEN, and FinCEN's Director, all as specified or cross-referenced in the Corporate Transparency Act (31 U.S.C. 5336).

This section requires the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to meet within 30 days of enactment to discuss, and to enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) within 90 days of enactment, to jointly disseminate covered information—regarding beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act—to reporting companies (i.e., most small businesses required to report BOI to FinCEN), trade associations, and small business representatives, including through SBA resource partners. The MOU must cover the following activities: (1) making covered information available in English, Spanish, and additional languages as determined; (2) adding a link on the SBA website homepage to FinCEN's BOI webpages; (3) developing a plan to identify, counter, and educate on scams related to BOI reporting; (4) hosting in-person town halls and webinars organized by SBA offices, featuring FinCEN staff presentations on BOI compliance, and advertised to relevant entities; (5) using SBA field offices and FinCEN domestic liaisons for those events; and (6) any other activities to increase BOI compliance. This section further requires public posting of the MOU on FinCEN and SBA websites within 7 days of execution; semiannual meetings beginning 6 months after MOU execution to review coordination issues, compliance challenges, non-compliance reasons reported to agencies, collaboration strategies, and related topics; and no compensation for meeting attendees.

This section requires the Director of the Small Business Administration and the FinCEN Director, not later than 30 days after entering into the memorandum of understanding under section 4(b) and every 30 days thereafter, to jointly submit reports to the Senate Committees on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the House Committees on Small Business and Financial Services. Each report must include (1) for the preceding 30-day period, (A) a description of actions taken under the memorandum to provide outreach to reporting companies that failed to comply with beneficial ownership requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act, (B) the estimated number of such reporting companies that received covered information or other assistance from the Small Business Administration or FinCEN as a result of those actions, and (C) the number of reporting companies in compliance; and (2) a description of planned actions under the memorandum during the following 30-day period to provide covered information to noncompliant reporting companies.