Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025

Defense-Bill Override Paves Way for Overhaul of U.S. AML Rules

Defense-Bill Override Paves Way for Overhaul of U.S. AML Rules

New rules intended to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism-including measures to make company ownership more transparent-will go into effect now that the National Defense Authorization Act has been approved, advancing a yearslong effort by anticorruption advocates.
Provisions in the annual defense-policy legislation would require many U.S. companies to register their true owners—an attempt to discourage the use of anonymous shell companies for illicit means. The law also would pave the way for a new whistleblower program aimed at encouraging people to report potential violations of anti-money-laundering laws.

The Senate voted 81-13 on Friday to override President Trump’s veto of the bill, which sets spending for defense operations and national-security programs for the 2021 fiscal year. The president’s objections were unrelated to the anti-money-laundering measures. The House had previously voted 322 to 87 to override the veto.

“Anonymous shell companies where the true beneficial owners are unknown is the biggest weakness in our anti-money-laundering safeguards,” said Clark Gascoigne, a senior policy adviser at the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition, a Washington-based group that has pushed for ownership disclosures.

Many companies aren’t currently under any federal obligation to identify the true beneficiaries of their operations. And many states’ rules have enabled owners to obscure their identities through shell companies or through agents who register companies on the owners’ behalf.

Required ownership disclosures will help prevent terror groups, drug cartels or other bad actors from using shell companies to move money to support their operations, experts say. “It’s the single most important step we could have taken to better protect our financial system from abuse,” Mr. Gascoigne said, referring to the passage of the legislation.

The Treasury Department has a year to issue regulations detailing how companies would comply. Once the regulations are in place, many companies created in the U.S. would have to disclose the name, birth date, address and a government-issued identification number—such a driver-license number or passport number—of the company’s beneficial owners. Existing companies are expected to have up to two years to comply after the regulations are in place.

The information, to be kept in a registry by the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, wouldn’t be available to the public. But federal law enforcement would have access to the data. Financial institutions would too, but with customer consent.

Publicly listed companies and many firms regulated by the federal government wouldn’t have to report. Nor would companies with more than 20 full-time employees, $5 million in annual sales and a physical place of business.

The National Federation of Independent Business, which opposed the legislation, says the rules unfairly burden small, legitimate companies with added paperwork and the risk of penalties for noncompliance.

The Washington-based group estimates that complying would take most companies about 30 minutes. “But it is one more piece of paperwork on a pile that’s already pretty high from a small-business owner’s perspective,” said Kevin Kuhlman, the NFIB’s vice president of federal government relations.

Disclosing more information to more agencies could increase privacy risks for businesses, Mr. Kuhlman said. The Treasury suffered a recent leak of suspicious activity reports, he noted, and its email accounts were said to be breached as part of a recent hacking effort targeting several federal agencies.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Airlines Evaluate Flight Cancellations Amid Escalating US-Iran Tensions
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Demands Perplexity AI Immediately Stop Using Its Content
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
Energy Infrastructure Becomes War Zone in Middle East
×