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FinCEN ends BOI reporting requirements for many businesses

On Aug. 11, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a final rule that permanently removes the requirement for U.S. companies and U.S. persons to report beneficial ownership information (BOI) to FinCEN under the Corporate Transparency Act. The final rule became effective on Aug. 14.

The BOI requirements were set forth under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024. The law was intended to combat money laundering and tax evasion, but its implementation raised concerns about both privacy – the report required business owners to divulge extensive personal information – and costly compliance. The federal government suspended enforcement of the CTA in March 2025.

The National Federation of Independent Business said the removal of BOI reporting requirements will save U.S. small businesses more than $128 billion in regulatory and compliance costs.

FinCEN also announced that it will delete previously reported information by U.S. persons—now exempt from the reporting requirements—from the beneficial ownership information database.

The final rule has five key components:

• It adopts the exemptions set out in the interim final rule issued in March 2025, making the rollback of beneficial ownership reporting by U.S. companies permanent;

• It exempts U.S. persons who have obtained FinCEN IDs from any obligation to update or correct the information they originally provided to FinCEN to obtain their FinCEN IDs;

• It eliminates the requirement for foreign companies to report U.S. person “company applicants” (i.e., the individuals who helped those foreign companies register to do business in the United States);

• It exempts foreign pooled investment vehicles registered in the United States from reporting the beneficial ownership information of a U.S person in control of the investment vehicle; and

• It confirms that FinCEN will delete information about any individuals—company applicants, beneficial owners, or recipients of a FinCEN ID—that FinCEN reasonably believes is a U.S. person (e.g., the information is linked to a U.S. passport or U.S. driver’s license).

Under the final rule, foreign entities that are reporting companies will still be required to report beneficial ownership information for foreign individuals.

In addition to the final rule, FinCEN has issued Frequently Asked Questions, and will be updating guidance on FinCEN.gov to reflect the final rule.

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