Beneficial Ownership Interest (BOI) Requirements For Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN)

There is a new federal reporting requirement for BOI. This information is required by FinCEN, which is a bureau of the U.S. Department of Treasury and enacted under the Corporate Transparency Act. This requirement is part of the U.S. government’s efforts to make it harder for bad actors to hide or benefit from their ill-gotten gains through shell companies or other opaque ownership structures.

The companies that are required to report are called “reporting companies” and include corporations, LLCs, or any company that was otherwise created in the U.S. by filing a document with a Secretary of State. There are exemptions, including but not limited to, publicly traded companies, non-profits, and certain large companies. Reporting companies are divided into two groups: new businesses created after January 1, 2024, and any company created prior to January 1, 2024. If the business is being formed through a Secretary of State Office after January 1, 2024, the company has 90 days to report their BOI. For those formed prior to January 1, 2024, the company has until January 1, 2025, to report their BOI.

Reporting companies may have to obtain information from their beneficial owners and report that information to FinCEN. In most cases, the entire online process takes between five to ten minutes. To make it easier, be sure to have a copy of the beneficial owners’ drivers licenses in a digital format as that will need to be uploaded to FinCEN as part of the reporting process. To find out more information, please call our office at 701-852-5224 or go to www.fincen.gov/boi.