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New US company ownership database faces continued political attacks weeks after launch (www.icij.org)

submitted 9 months ago by 0x815@feddit.de to c/usnews@beehaw.org

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The rollout of a landmark company ownership registry officially launched by the United States Treasury Department on Jan. 1 and aimed at fighting dirty money flows in the U.S. has been met with political attacks and the spread of misinformation, amid ongoing tensions around the transparency tool.

The beneficial ownership registry will collect the names of companies’ owners to unmask anonymous shell companies commonly used by criminals to hide dirty money and nefarious business activities. The information will only be disclosed to law enforcement agents, bank compliance officers and relevant regulators.

But the database’s apparently successful launch spurred a new round of criticisms and challenges from business groups and their allies on Capitol Hill — attacks that some advocates fear could spread misconceptions about the new law.

Last week, a Republican-led committee in the U.S. House of Representatives blasted the new database for presenting small businesses with a “mountain of red tape,” and asserted that noncompliance could lead to jail time for small business owners.

“Every single small business in America will be forced to comply with these new, onerous, and overly complex regulations,” stated an extensive statement released by the House Committee on Financial Services.

About a week after its launch, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced that 100,000 U.S. companies had already submitted their ownership information to the database.

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[–] NovaPrime@lemmy.ml 11 points 9 months ago (2 children)

How is this burdensome on businesses? Wouldn't it be as simple as filing the same forms they filed with the secretary of state to register the businesses in the first place? (at least for the small businesses they're all feigning concern for)

[–] HubertManne@kbin.social 8 points 9 months ago

They like to throw out the term small business or family any time they want to invoke some sort of sympathy. Even when used accurately the term small businesses is so broad it has little meaning (https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/01/what-is-a-small-business.html):

"This definition of “size” aligns with the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) definition of a small business. SBA’s Table of Size Standards provides definitions for North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes, that vary widely by industry, revenue and employment.

It defines small business by firm revenue (ranging from $1 million to over $40 million) and by employment (from 100 to over 1,500 employees).

For example, according to the SBA definition, a roofing contractor is defined as a small business if it has annual revenues of $16.5 million or less. But an Asphalt Shingle and Coating Material manufacturer is defined as a small business if it has fewer than 750 employees."

[–] 0x815@feddit.de 7 points 9 months ago

I guess it's the big business which is complaining here trying to lobby against transparency. The small business owners don't have much to hide as you suggest.