The exceptive relief for financial institutions from Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) beneficial ownership rule requirements regarding certain account rollovers and renewals is now permanent, the law enforcement agency announced Friday.
The relief, first provided in May and extended last month, was due to expire Saturday (Sept. 8).
According to Friday’s ruling (FIN-2018-R003), covered institutions are relieved from the obligations of FinCEN’s Beneficial Ownership Requirements for Legal Entity Customers (Beneficial Ownership Rule) and the requirement to identify and verify the identity of the beneficial owner, or owners, when a legal entity customer opens a new account as a result of the following:
- a rollover of a certificate of deposit (CD, defined further in the ruling);
- a renewal, modification, or extension of a loan (e.g., setting a later payoff date) that does not require underwriting review and approval;
- a renewal, modification, or extension of a commercial line of credit or credit card account (e.g., a later payoff date is set) that does not require underwriting review and approval; and
- a renewal of a safe deposit box rental.
“The exception only applies to the rollover, renewal, modification or extension of any of the types of accounts listed above occurring on or after May 11, 2018, and does not apply to the initial opening of such accounts,” FinCEN says in the ruling. “Notwithstanding this exception, covered financial institutions must continue to comply with all other applicable anti-money laundering (AML) requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and its implementing regulations, including program, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements.”