FINCEN
COMPLIANCE
FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) is a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. FinCEN’s mission is to safeguard the financial system from illicit use and combat money laundering and promote national security through the collection, analysis, and dissemination of financial intelligence and strategic use of financial authorities.
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Our firm prepares two major compliance filings with FinCEN for clients. FinCEN Form 114 (annual filing) Report of Foreign Bank and Financial and Financial Accounts and the newly mandated Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting. Learn more about each of these important filings below.
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FINCEN FORM 114
United States persons, regardless of their immigration status, with any financial interest in or signature authority over foreign financial accounts must file an FBAR (Foreign Bank Account Report) using FinCEN Form 114 if the aggregate value of the foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. This is not a tax filing and does not fulfil separately your foreign account reporting obligations on Form 8938 Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets on your federal tax return.
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An FBAR Filer is considered an individual when he/she personally owns (or jointly owners with a spouse) a reportable foreign financial account that requires the filing of an FBAR for the reportable year. We assist clients with both the filing but also in understanding which types of accounts should be included but also which have taxable items associated with them.
BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP INFORMATION REPORTING
Beginning on January 1, 2024, many companies in the United States will have to report information about their beneficial owners, i.e., the individuals who ultimately own or control the company. They will have to report the information to FinCEN. FinCEN cannot accept reports before January 1, 2024 but we are proactively working with clients now to be ready to start meeting this new requirement.
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Alert: FinCEN has been notified of recent fraudulent attempts to solicit information from individuals and entities who may be subject to reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act. The fraudulent correspondence may be titled "Important Compliance Notice" and asks the recipient to click on a URL or to scan a QR code. Those e-mails or letters are fraudulent. FinCEN does not send unsolicited requests. Please do not respond to these fraudulent messages, or click on any links or scan any QR codes within them.