Question:

Heather,

We had a member open a certificate on a business account and we sent them the beneficial ownership form to sign electronically.  The member responded “We won’t be signing anything related to BOI reporting until the pending injunction against FINCEN is lifted.”

I googled and saw the injunction remains in effect. Companies do not need disclose their beneficial owners to FinCEN, but this wouldn’t release them from the obligation to provide it to the credit union, right?

Great Question!

It absolutely would not. The requirement to provide beneficial ownership information to financial institutions when opening new accounts remains a separate requirement from providing it to FinCEN. Financial institutions currently don’t have access to the FinCEN database in any case.

Here is the section of the code of federal regulations with which the credit union must comply. The current injunction does not cover this requirement, which has been in effect since 2018.

No BOI certification, no certificate.