On March 26, 2024, the FATF announced that the United States has been upgraded to “largely compliant” with FATF Recommendation 24, which relates to beneficial ownership transparency for legal persons. FATF is the global standard-setting body for anti-money laundering, countering the financing of terrorism, and countering proliferation financing (AML/CFT/CPF).
According to the Treasury’s press release, the FATF recognized Treasury’s historic efforts to increase beneficial ownership transparency and address key vulnerabilities in the U.S. AML/CFT framework as published in the Seventh Enhanced Follow-Up Report of the United States. In a statement, Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen said that country’s upgraded rating is a result of nearly a decade of hard work by the Treasury Department, along with its interagency partners, to stop the flow of dirty money through anonymous companies.
The Seventh Enhanced Follow-Up Report of the United States details the country’s progress in addressing deficiencies in its AML/CFT regime specific to Recommendation 24, including the ongoing implementation of the Corporate Transparency Act, the bipartisan law that requires many companies doing business in the United States to report information to FinCEN about who ultimately owns or controls them. The Treasury aims to prevent the misuse of anonymous companies and other corporate structures by criminal, corrupt, and illicit actors through these efforts.
Read the Treasury’s press here.
The full Report can be found here.