Corporate Transparency Act - How Do I Protect My Privacy?

A Brief Background

The Corporate Transparency Act (“the Act”) was passed by Congress in January 2021 with the primary purpose of protecting our financial system from being used for illicit activities, such as money laundering. The Act requires that certain entities, including corporations, limited liability companies, and some others, must file beneficial ownership information with the Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, aka FinCEN. The reporting requirement will begin on January 1, 2024. However, the rule does exempt certain entities from the filing requirement.

 Who Is A Beneficial Owner?

For the purpose of the Act, a beneficial owner is defined as any individual who directly or indirectly either exercises substantial control over the reporting company or who owns or controls at least 25% of its ownership interests.

 Now, What About Your Personal Information?

You may be asking, what personal information of yours will be reported? Well, the entity will be required to report your full legal name, date of birth, current address, a unique identifying number from a government issued identification such as a passport, state ID card or driver’s license, and an image of that document to comply with the reporting requirement. Now, this sounds like an awful lot of information that is floating out there. The information provided will be stored in a private database with limited access provided to government law enforcement agencies with a caveat that financial institutions can obtain access with a company’s consent. Rest assured that the information will not be readily accessible by individual persons who may be searching for your name in the public record.

 If you are a beneficial owner of an entity and have questions or concerns about your personal information remaining private, reach out to Tresp, Day & Associates, Inc. to schedule a call with one of our attorneys! Call us at (858) 755-6672 today.