Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements

At Community Bank, we are dedicated to keeping you informed of the latest regulatory and compliance developments, ensuring you and your business stay up to date.

What you need to know

Under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), which went into effect on January 1, 2024, your business may be required to report information about the people who own or control it – the company’s beneficial owners – to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

The purpose of the rule is to promote transparency in the ownership of businesses for our law enforcement community.

What it means for your business

If your business is currently registered with the Secretary of State, you must also register with the federal government by January 1, 2025.

If you established a new business after January 1, 2024, and are required to register with the Secretary of State, you will have 90 days to register with the federal government.

You can register your business here: fincen.gov/boi.

This law requires you to:

Identify any individual who exercises substantial control over your company
Identify anyone who owns at least 25 percent of your company
Identify a company applicant
Provide information on the company itself

Refer to the Resource section of this page for further information on these requirements.

Why companies have to report beneficial ownership information

While most companies in the U.S. are legitimate businesses, criminals can use companies to provide cover for money laundering, corruption, tax evasion, drug trafficking, fraud, and other crimes. This illegal activity harms innocent people and legitimate businesses, including small businesses.

To address this problem, Congress passed the CTA. This law requires many companies formed or operating in the United States to report their Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) to FinCEN.

Collecting BOI will help protect national security and make it harder for criminals and other bad actors to hide from the law.

Resources

Please refer to any of these resources for further details regarding this law:

Beneficial Ownership Information
Beneficial Ownership FAQs
Beneficial Ownership Small Entity Guide
Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirements