A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding access to the BOI database was issued in December 2022. The rule would implement the provision of the CTA that establishes rules for who may access BOI, for what purposes, and what safeguards will be required to ensure that the information is protected. It proposes regulations for disclosing BOI to specific groups, including financial institutions.
- Under the proposal, certain federal agencies could log into the beneficial ownership registry directly, run queries, and review immediate results.
- State, local, and tribal law enforcement would need to submit a request form for approval before being granted the same access as federal agencies.
- Financial institutions would be able to access the beneficial ownership registry with the consent of the reporting company and after submitting an official request for an electronic transcript of that entity’s BOI.
Financial institutions have raised concerns about asking permission from their potential or existing customers to access the FinCEN BOI database, wondering if customers with nefarious intent are likely to grant financial institutions permission to access their data. The proposed rule does not allow financial institutions to query or receive multiple search results at a time. If the customer does approve, the financial institution must submit an official request to FinCEN for data and will only receive an electronic transcript with that entity’s BOI. There is also no mention of whether or not FinCEN will have verified that the BOI information received by the bank or credit union is correct.
Critics of the proposed rule have noted that because there is no guarantee of access or verified information from FinCEN, the registry may not be an improvement on the current system in which banks ask entities for information directly. Written comments on this proposed rule may be submitted on or before February 14, 2023.
