A defense spending package includes a measure requiring new businesses to report their beneficial owners directly to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, shifting the burden away from banks.
Banks are responsible for reporting their business customers' beneficial owners, but a bill that would shift that anti-money-laundering duty to businesses themselves has been added to a must-pass defense spending package.
A key Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Carolyn Maloney has a slim lead over a primary challenger, Suraj Patel, a progressive political activist and New York University Professor.
A trade group says suspending so-called beneficial owner rules would help financial institutions make more small-business loans through the Paycheck Protection Program.
The 2020 elections and a potential new chair of the Senate Banking Committee in the next Congress could put a deadline on passage of a bill to ease a key anti-money-laundering requirement for banks.
Beneficial-ownership legislation is within the banking industry’s reach, but the prospect of new regulatory burdens for small businesses is forcing lawmakers to choose sides.
