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ReadersSpeak




        A step forward for corporate transparency               company." Further details on the final rule and who it
                                                                affects can be found here: https://bit.ly/3TkSwH3.
                              he Corporate     Transparency
                              Act's final rule was issued in    Given that a primary objective of the CTA is to make money
                              September. Can you explain what   laundering activities more difficult while making it easier
                     T it entails and what the impact           to catch criminals engaged in it, this is good news for
        might be? I figure it will be good for payments and fintech   honest professionals in the payments/fintech ecosystem.
        companies overall. Do you?                              This will, however, impact partnerships and mergers and
                                                  Brett Gaire   acquisitions. Added to due diligence tasks will be checking
                                        Underwriting Trainee    to see that potential partners or acquisitions have complied
        Brett,                                                  with the new reporting requirements under the CTA.

        The Corporate Transparency Act, (CTA) which became      Also, law enforcement agencies are expected to use
        law in January 2021, requires companies to disclose to the   increasingly sophisticated  data  mining  tactics  to flag
        U.S. government the names of their true owners. It was   suspicious activity among data FinCEN will collect. This
        devised to thwart drug traffickers, oligarchs, fraudsters   means a percentage of honest companies will be swept
        and other criminals that have used shell companies and   into AML investigations, along with criminal enterprises.
        front companies to hide ill-gotten gains from the federal   This will be an unwelcome, but likely unavoidable burden
        government.                                             on law-abiding companies that are targeted.
        The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement        Thank  you for  your  inquiry,  Brett.  Good  luck  in  your
        Network (FinCEN) issued its Final Rule for implementation   underwriting career.
        of the act's requirement to report beneficial ownership                                               Editor
        information. Beneficial owners, according to reporting
        from Foley & Lardner LLP, are “any individual who,      CTA's impact
        directly or indirectly, either exercises substantial control   Is your company among the millions that will be required
        over such reporting company or owns or controls at      to comply with the CTA? Let us know how you're
        least 25 percent of the ownership interests of such report   addressing it at greensheet@greensheet.com.
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