Regulators make it clear: no changes necessary to AML/BSA programs in face of BOI rule

No changes are necessary to Bank Secrecy Act/anti–money laundering (AML/BSA) compliance programs designed to follow the 2016 Customer Due Diligence (CDD) rule because of the Jan. 1 effective date for the new beneficial ownership information (BOI) access rule, federal financial institution regulators said Thursday.

According to an interagency statement released by the regulators, the access rule does not create a new regulatory requirement for banks to access BOI from the Beneficial Ownership Information Technology (BO IT) system “or a supervisory expectation that they do so.”

Therefore, the statement asserts, no changes are necessary to the BSA/AML compliance programs that work in tandem with the CDD rule.

The Customer Transparency Act (CTA) directs FinCEN to revise the CDD rule to bring it into conformity with the Anti–Money Laundering Act of 2020 and the CTA. However, the statement notes, to date, the CDD rule has not been revised and remains unchanged.

BOI requires many companies to report information about the individuals who ultimately own or control the company (that is, who benefits from ownership). Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has said it will continue to provide guidance on how to submit beneficial ownership information, indicating that will continue after the Jan. 1 effective date.

Interagency Statement for Banks on the Issuance of the Beneficial Ownership Information Access Rule