[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1995 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1995
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``FinCEN-SBA Coordination on
Beneficial Ownership Registration Act''.
SEC. 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).
SEC. 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).
SEC. 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).
SEC. 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.
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