On May 27, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) wrote to the Treasury encouraging rescission of the interim final rule requiring “foreign reporting companies,” but not domestic entities or U.S. citizens, to report beneficial ownership information under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). The Senators argued that beneficial ownership information from domestic entities is crucial for national security, intelligence and law enforcement efforts to combat money laundering, terrorism financing, and other crimes. The lawmakers expressed concern that the interim final rule is inconsistent with congressional intent behind the CTA: to establish a directory of beneficial ownership information for both domestic and foreign companies operating within the U.S. that could be used to combat illegal activity.

As previously covered by InfoBytes, the Treasury announced it will suspend the enforcement of fines or penalties indefinitely for beneficial ownership information reporting for domestic reporting companies, their beneficial owners, and U.S. citizens.