IB 
Union Calendar No. 180 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2513 
[Report No. 116–227] 
To ensure that persons who form corporations or limited liability companies 
in the United States disclose the beneficial owners of those corporations 
or limited liability companies, in order to prevent wrongdoers from ex-
ploiting United States corporations and limited liability companies for 
criminal gain, to assist law enforcement in detecting, preventing, and 
punishing terrorism, money laundering, and other misconduct involving 
United States corporations and limited liability companies, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 3, 2019 
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Mr. KING of New 
York, and Mr. MALINOWSKI) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Financial Services 
OCTOBER 8, 2019 
Additional sponsors: Mr. BEYER, Mr. COOPER, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. MEEKS, 
Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, and Mr. SHERMAN 
OCTOBER 8, 2019 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 3, 2019] 
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A BILL 
To ensure that persons who form corporations or limited 
liability companies in the United States disclose the bene-
ficial owners of those corporations or limited liability 
companies, in order to prevent wrongdoers from exploit-
ing United States corporations and limited liability com-
panies for criminal gain, to assist law enforcement in 
detecting, preventing, and punishing terrorism, money 
laundering, and other misconduct involving United States 
corporations and limited liability companies, and for 
other purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Corporate Transparency 
Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Nearly 2,000,000 corporations and limited li-
ability companies are being formed under the laws of 
the States each year. 
(2) Very few States require information about 
the beneficial owners of the corporations and limited 
liability companies formed under their laws. 
(3) A person forming a corporation or limited li-
ability company within the United States typically 
provides less information at the time of incorporation 
than is needed to obtain a bank account or driver’s 
license and typically does not name a single bene-
ficial owner. 
(4) Criminals have exploited State formation 
procedures to conceal their identities when forming 
corporations or limited liability companies in the 
United States, and have then used the newly created 
entities to commit crimes affecting interstate and 
international commerce such as terrorism, prolifera-
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tion financing, drug and human trafficking, money 
laundering, tax evasion, counterfeiting, piracy, secu-
rities fraud, financial fraud, and acts of foreign cor-
ruption. 
(5) Law enforcement efforts to investigate cor-
porations and limited liability companies suspected of 
committing crimes have been impeded by the lack of 
available beneficial ownership information, as docu-
mented in reports and testimony by officials from the 
Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland 
Security, the Department of the Treasury, and the 
Government Accountability Office, and others. 
(6) In July 2006, the leading international 
antimoney laundering standard-setting body, the Fi-
nancial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (in 
this section referred to as the ‘‘FATF’’), of which the 
United States is a member, issued a report that criti-
cizes the United States for failing to comply with a 
FATF standard on the need to collect beneficial own-
ership information and urged the United States to 
correct this deficiency by July 2008. In December 
2016, FATF issued another evaluation of the United 
States, which found that little progress has been made 
over the last ten years to address this problem. It 
identified the ‘‘lack of timely access to adequate, accu-
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rate and current beneficial ownership information’’ 
as a fundamental gap in United States efforts to com-
bat money laundering and terrorist finance. 
(7) In response to the 2006 FATF report, the 
United States has urged the States to obtain bene-
ficial ownership information for the corporations and 
limited liability companies formed under the laws of 
such States. 
(8) In contrast to practices in the United States, 
all 28 countries in the European Union are required 
to have corporate registries that include beneficial 
ownership information. 
(9) To reduce the vulnerability of the United 
States to wrongdoing by United States corporations 
and limited liability companies with hidden owners, 
to protect interstate and international commerce from 
criminals misusing United States corporations and 
limited liability companies, to strengthen law enforce-
ment investigations of suspect corporations and lim-
ited liability companies, to set a clear, universal 
standard for State incorporation practices, and to 
bring the United States into compliance with inter-
national anti-money laundering standards, Federal 
legislation is needed to require the collection of bene-
ficial ownership information for the corporations and 
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limited liability companies formed under the laws of 
such States. 
SEC. 3. TRANSPARENT INCORPORATION PRACTICES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.— 
(1) AMENDMENT TO THE BANK SECRECY ACT.— 
Chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code, is amend-
ed by inserting after section 5332 the following new 
section: 
‘‘§ 5333 Transparent incorporation practices 
‘‘(a) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP REPORTING.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each applicant to form 
a corporation or limited liability company 
under the laws of a State or Indian Tribe shall 
file a report with FinCEN containing a list of 
the beneficial owners of the corporation or lim-
ited liability company that— 
‘‘(i) except as provided in paragraphs 
(3) and (4), and subject to paragraph (2), 
identifies each beneficial owner by— 
‘‘(I) full legal name; 
‘‘(II) date of birth; 
‘‘(III) current residential or busi-
ness street address; and 
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‘‘(IV) a unique identifying num-
ber from a non-expired passport issued 
by the United States, a non-expired 
personal identification card, or a non- 
expired driver’s license issued by a 
State; and 
‘‘(ii) if the applicant is not a bene-
ficial owner, also provides the identification 
information described in clause (i) relating 
to such applicant. 
‘‘(B) UPDATED
INFORMATION.—Each cor-
poration or limited liability company formed 
under the laws of a State or Indian Tribe 
shall— 
‘‘(i) submit to FinCEN an annual fil-
ing containing a list of— 
‘‘(I) the current beneficial owners 
of the corporation or limited liability 
company and the information de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) for each 
such beneficial owner; and 
‘‘(II) any changes in the bene-
ficial owners of the corporation or lim-
ited liability company during the pre-
vious year; and 
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‘‘(ii) pursuant to any rule issued by 
the Secretary of the Treasury under sub-
paragraph (C), update the list of the bene-
ficial owners of the corporation or limited 
liability company within the time period 
prescribed by such rule. 
‘‘(C) RULEMAKING ON UPDATING INFORMA-
TION.—Not later than 9 months after the comple-
tion of the study required under section 4(a)(1) 
of the Corporate Transparency Act of 2019, the 
Secretary of the Treasury shall consider the find-
ings of such study and, if the Secretary deter-
mines it to be necessary or appropriate, issue a 
rule requiring corporations and limited liability 
companies to update the list of the beneficial 
owners of the corporation or limited liability 
company within a specified amount of time after 
the date of any change in the list of beneficial 
owners or the information required to be pro-
vided relating to each beneficial owner. 
‘‘(D) STATE NOTIFICATION.—Each State in 
which a corporation or limited liability com-
pany is being formed shall notify each applicant 
of the requirements listed in subparagraphs (A) 
and (B). 
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‘‘(2) CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS.—If an ap-
plicant to form a corporation or limited liability 
company or a beneficial owner, or similar agent of a 
corporation or limited liability company who is re-
quired to provide identification information under 
this subsection, does not have a nonexpired passport 
issued by the United States, a nonexpired personal 
identification card, or a non-expired driver’s license 
issued by a State, each such person shall provide to 
FinCEN the full legal name, current residential or 
business street address, a unique identifying number 
from a non-expired passport issued by a foreign gov-
ernment, and a legible and credible copy of the pages 
of a non-expired passport issued by the government of 
a foreign country bearing a photograph, date of birth, 
and unique identifying information for each bene-
ficial owner, and each application described in para-
graph (1)(A) and each update described in paragraph 
(1)(B) shall include a written certification by a per-
son residing in the State or Indian country under the 
jurisdiction of the Indian Tribe forming the entity 
that the applicant, corporation, or limited liability 
company— 
‘‘(A) has obtained for each such beneficial 
owner, a current residential or business street 
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address and a legible and credible copy of the 
pages of a non-expired passport issued by the 
government of a foreign country bearing a photo-
graph, date of birth, and unique identifying in-
formation for the person; 
‘‘(B) has verified the full legal name, ad-
dress, and identity of each such person; 
‘‘(C) will provide the information described 
in 
subparagraph 
(A) 
and 
the 
proof 
of 
verification described in subparagraph (B) upon 
request of FinCEN; and 
‘‘(D) will retain the information and proof 
of verification under this paragraph until the 
end of the 5-year period beginning on the date 
that the corporation or limited liability company 
terminates under the laws of the State or Indian 
Tribe. 
‘‘(3) EXEMPT ENTITIES.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to an ap-
plicant to form a corporation or limited liability 
company under the laws of a State or Indian 
Tribe, if such entity is described in subpara-
graph (C) or (D) of subsection (d)(4) and will be 
exempt from the beneficial ownership disclosure 
requirements under this subsection, such appli-
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cant, or a prospective officer, director, or similar 
agent of the applicant, shall file a written cer-
tification with FinCEN— 
‘‘(i) identifying the specific provision 
of subsection (d)(4) under which the entity 
proposed to be formed would be exempt from 
the beneficial ownership disclosure require-
ments under paragraphs (1) and (2); 
‘‘(ii) stating that the entity proposed to 
be formed meets the requirements for an en-
tity described under such provision of sub-
section (d)(4); and 
‘‘(iii) providing identification infor-
mation for the applicant or prospective offi-
cer, director, or similar agent making the 
certification in the same manner as pro-
vided under paragraph (1) or (2). 
‘‘(B) EXISTING CORPORATIONS OR LIMITED 
LIABILITY COMPANIES.—On and after the date 
that is 2 years after the final regulations are 
issued to carry out this section, a corporation or 
limited liability company formed under the laws 
of the State or Indian Tribe before such date 
shall be subject to the requirements of this sub-
section unless an officer, director, or similar 
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agent of the entity submits to FinCEN a written 
certification— 
‘‘(i) identifying the specific provision 
of subsection (d)(4) under which the entity 
is exempt from the requirements under 
paragraphs (1) and (2); 
‘‘(ii) stating that the entity meets the 
requirements for an entity described under 
such provision of subsection (d)(4); and 
‘‘(iii) providing identification infor-
mation for the officer, director, or similar 
agent making the certification in the same 
manner as provided under paragraph (1) or 
(2). 
‘‘(C) EXEMPT ENTITIES HAVING OWNERSHIP 
INTEREST.—If an entity described in subpara-
graph (C) or (D) of subsection (d)(4) has or will 
have an ownership interest in a corporation or 
limited liability company formed or to be formed 
under the laws of a State or Indian Tribe, the 
applicant, corporation, or limited liability com-
pany in which the entity has or will have the 
ownership interest shall provide the information 
required under this subsection relating to the en-
tity, except that the entity shall not be required 
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to provide information regarding any natural 
person who has an ownership interest in, exer-
cises substantial control over, or receives substan-
tial economic benefits from the entity. 
‘‘(4) FINCEN ID NUMBERS.— 
‘‘(A) ISSUANCE OF FINCEN ID NUMBER.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—FinCEN shall issue 
a FinCEN ID number to any individual 
who requests such a number and provides 
FinCEN with the information described 
under subclauses (I) through (IV) of para-
graph (1)(A)(i). 
‘‘(ii) UPDATING OF INFORMATION.—An 
individual with a FinCEN ID number shall 
submit an annual filing with FinCEN up-
dating any information described under 
subclauses (I) through (IV) of paragraph 
(1)(A)(i). 
‘‘(B) USE OF FINCEN ID NUMBER IN RE-
PORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Any person required 
to report the information described under para-
graph (1)(A)(i) with respect to an individual 
may instead report the FinCEN ID number of 
the individual. 
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‘‘(C) TREATMENT
OF
INFORMATION
SUB-
MITTED FOR FINCEN ID NUMBER.—For purposes 
of this section, any information submitted under 
subparagraph (A) shall be deemed to be bene-
ficial ownership information. 
‘‘(5) RETENTION
AND
DISCLOSURE
OF
BENE-
FICIAL OWNERSHIP INFORMATION BY FINCEN.— 
‘‘(A) RETENTION OF INFORMATION.—Bene-
ficial ownership information relating to each 
corporation or limited liability company formed 
under the laws of the State or Indian Tribe shall 
be maintained by FinCEN until the end of the 
5-year period (or such other period of time as the 
Secretary of the Treasury may, by rule, deter-
mine) beginning on the date that the corporation 
or limited liability company terminates. 
‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.—Bene-
ficial 
ownership 
information 
reported 
to 
FinCEN pursuant to this section shall be pro-
vided by FinCEN only upon receipt of— 
‘‘(i) subject to subparagraph (C), a re-
quest, through appropriate protocols, by a 
local, Tribal, State, or Federal law enforce-
ment agency; 
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‘‘(ii) a request made by a Federal 
agency on behalf of a law enforcement agen-
cy of another country under an inter-
national treaty, agreement, or convention, 
or an order under section 3512 of title 18 
or section 1782 of title 28; or 
‘‘(iii) a request made by a financial 
institution, with customer consent, as part 
of the institution’s compliance with due 
diligence requirements imposed under the 
Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, 
or other applicable Federal, State, or Tribal 
law. 
‘‘(C) APPROPRIATE PROTOCOLS.— 
‘‘(i) PRIVACY.—The protocols described 
in subparagraph (B)(i) shall— 
‘‘(I) protect the privacy of any 
beneficial ownership information pro-
vided by FinCEN to a local, Tribal, 
State, or Federal law enforcement 
agency; 
‘‘(II) ensure that a local, Tribal, 
State, or Federal law enforcement 
agency requesting beneficial ownership 
information has an existing investiga-
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tory basis for requesting such informa-
tion; 
‘‘(III) ensure that access to bene-
ficial ownership information is limited 
to authorized users at a local, Tribal, 
State, or Federal law enforcement 
agency who have undergone appro-
priate training, and that the identity 
of such authorized users is verified 
through appropriate mechanisms, such 
as two-factor authentication; 
‘‘(IV) include an audit trail of re-
quests for beneficial ownership infor-
mation by a local, Tribal, State, or 
Federal law enforcement agency, in-
cluding, as necessary, information con-
cerning queries made by authorized 
users at a local, Tribal, State, or Fed-
eral law enforcement agency; 
‘‘(V) require that every local, 
Tribal, State, or Federal law enforce-
ment agency that receives beneficial 
ownership information from FinCEN 
conducts an annual audit to verify 
that the beneficial ownership informa-
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tion received from FinCEN has been 
accessed and used appropriately, and 
consistent with this paragraph; and 
‘‘(VI) require FinCEN to conduct 
an annual audit of every local, Tribal, 
State, or Federal law enforcement 
agency that has received beneficial 
ownership information to ensure that 
such agency has requested beneficial 
ownership information, and has used 
any beneficial ownership information 
received from FinCEN, appropriately, 
and consistent with this paragraph. 
‘‘(ii) LIMITATION ON USE.—Beneficial 
ownership information provided to a local, 
Tribal, State, or Federal law enforcement 
agency under this paragraph may only be 
used for law enforcement, national security, 
or intelligence purposes. 
‘‘(b) NO BEARER SHARE CORPORATIONS OR LIMITED 
LIABILITY COMPANIES.—A corporation or limited liability 
company formed under the laws of a State or Indian Tribe 
may not issue a certificate in bearer form evidencing either 
a whole or fractional interest in the corporation or limited 
liability company. 
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‘‘(c) PENALTIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 
person to affect interstate or foreign commerce by— 
‘‘(A) knowingly providing, or attempting to 
provide, false or fraudulent beneficial ownership 
information, including a false or fraudulent 
identifying photograph, to FinCEN in accord-
ance with this section; 
‘‘(B) willfully failing to provide complete or 
updated beneficial ownership information to 
FinCEN in accordance with this section; or 
‘‘(C) knowingly disclosing the existence of a 
subpoena or other request for beneficial owner-
ship information reported pursuant to this sec-
tion, except— 
‘‘(i) to the extent necessary to fulfill the 
authorized request; or 
‘‘(ii) as authorized by the entity that 
issued the subpoena, or other request. 
‘‘(2) CIVIL AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Any per-
son who violates paragraph (1)— 
‘‘(A) shall be liable to the United States for 
a civil penalty of not more than $10,000; and 
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‘‘(B) may be fined under title 18, United 
States Code, imprisoned for not more than 3 
years, or both. 
‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—Any person who negligently 
violates paragraph (1) shall not be subject to civil or 
criminal penalties under paragraph (2). 
‘‘(4) WAIVER.—The Secretary of the Treasury 
may waive the penalty for violating paragraph (1) if 
the Secretary determines that the violation was due to 
reasonable cause and was not due to willful neglect. 
‘‘(5) CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR THE MISUSE OR 
UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF BENEFICIAL OWNER-
SHIP INFORMATION.—The criminal penalties provided 
for under section 5322 shall apply to a violation of 
this section to the same extent as such criminal pen-
alties apply to a violation described in section 5322, 
if the violation of this section consists of the misuse 
or unauthorized disclosure of beneficial ownership in-
formation. 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section: 
‘‘(1) APPLICANT.—The term ‘applicant’ means 
any natural person who files an application to form 
a corporation or limited liability company under the 
laws of a State or Indian Tribe. 
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‘‘(2) BANK SECRECY ACT.—The term ‘Bank Se-
crecy Act’ means— 
‘‘(A) section 21 of the Federal Deposit In-
surance Act; 
‘‘(B) chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 91– 
508; and 
‘‘(C) this subchapter. 
‘‘(3) BENEFICIAL OWNER.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), the term ‘beneficial owner’ 
means a natural person who, directly or indi-
rectly, through any contract, arrangement, un-
derstanding, relationship, or otherwise— 
‘‘(i) exercises substantial control over a 
corporation or limited liability company; 
‘‘(ii) owns 25 percent or more of the 
equity interests of a corporation or limited 
liability company; or 
‘‘(iii) receives substantial economic 
benefits from the assets of a corporation or 
limited liability company. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘beneficial 
owner’ shall not include— 
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‘‘(iv) a credit union (as defined in sec-
tion 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act 
(12 U.S.C. 1752)); 
‘‘(v) a bank holding company (as de-
fined in section 2 of the Bank Holding 
Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841)) or 
a savings and loan holding company (as de-
fined in section 10(a) of the Home Owners’ 
Loan Act (12 U.S.C. 1467a(a)); 
‘‘(vi) a broker or dealer (as defined in 
section 3 of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c)) that is registered 
under section 15 of the Securities Exchange 
Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78o); 
‘‘(vii) an exchange or clearing agency 
(as defined in section 3 of the Securities Ex-
change Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c)) that is 
registered under section 6 or 17A of the Se-
curities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 
78f and 78q–1); 
‘‘(viii) an investment company (as de-
fined in section 3 of the Investment Com-
pany Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–3)) or an 
investment adviser (as defined in section 
202(11) of the Investment Advisers Act of 
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Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7212) or an 
entity controlling, controlled by, or under 
common control of such a firm; 
‘‘(xii) a public utility that provides 
telecommunications service, electrical power, 
natural gas, or water and sewer services, 
within the United States; 
‘‘(xiii) a church, charity, nonprofit en-
tity, or other organization that is described 
in section 501(c), 527, or 4947(a)(1) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, that has not 
been denied tax exempt status, and that has 
filed the most recently due annual informa-
tion return with the Internal Revenue Serv-
ice, if required to file such a return; 
‘‘(xiv) a financial market utility des-
ignated by the Financial Stability Over-
sight Council under section 804 of the 
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Con-
sumer Protection Act; 
‘‘(xv) an insurance producer (as de-
fined in section 334 of the Gramm-Leach- 
Bliley Act); 
‘‘(xvi) any business concern that— 
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‘‘(I) employs more than 20 em-
ployees on a full-time basis in the 
United States; 
‘‘(II) files income tax returns in 
the United States demonstrating more 
than $5,000,000 in gross receipts or 
sales; and 
‘‘(III) has an operating presence 
at a physical office within the United 
States; or 
‘‘(xvii) any corporation or limited li-
ability company formed and owned by an 
entity described in this clause or in clause 
(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii), 
(ix), (x), (xi), (xii), (xiii), (xiv), (xv), or 
(xvi); and 
‘‘(D) do not include any individual business 
concern or class of business concerns which the 
Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney Gen-
eral of the United States have jointly deter-
mined, by rule of otherwise, to be exempt from 
the requirements of subsection (a), if the Sec-
retary and the Attorney General jointly deter-
mine that requiring beneficial ownership infor-
mation from the business concern would not 
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serve the public interest and would not assist law 
enforcement efforts to detect, prevent, or pros-
ecute terrorism, money laundering, tax evasion, 
or other misconduct. 
‘‘(5) FINCEN.—The term ‘FinCEN’ means the 
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the De-
partment of the Treasury. 
‘‘(6) INDIAN COUNTRY.—The term ‘Indian coun-
try’ has the meaning given that term in section 1151 
of title 18. 
‘‘(7) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 
has the meaning given that term under section 102 of 
the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 
1994. 
‘‘(8) PERSONAL
IDENTIFICATION
CARD.—The 
term ‘personal identification card’ means an identi-
fication document issued by a State, Indian Tribe, or 
local government to an individual solely for the pur-
pose of identification of that individual. 
‘‘(9) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means any State, 
commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United 
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 
of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, or the 
United States Virgin Islands.’’. 
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(2) RULEMAKING.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec-
retary of the Treasury shall issue regulations to 
carry out this Act and the amendments made by 
this Act, including, to the extent necessary, to 
clarify the definitions in section 5333(d) of title 
31, United States Code. 
(B) REVISION OF FINAL RULE.—Not later 
than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall revise the 
final rule titled ‘‘Customer Due Diligence Re-
quirements for Financial Institutions’’ (May 11, 
2016; 81 Fed. Reg. 29397) to— 
(i) bring the rule into conformance 
with this Act and the amendments made by 
this Act; 
(ii) account for financial institutions’ 
access to comprehensive beneficial ownership 
information filed by corporations and lim-
ited liability companies, under threat of 
civil and criminal penalties, under this Act 
and the amendments made by this Act; and 
(iii) reduce any burdens on financial 
institutions that are, in light of the enact-
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ment of this Act and the amendments made 
by this Act, unnecessary or duplicative. 
(3) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENTS.—Title 
31, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(A) in section 5321(a)— 
(i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sec-
tions 5314 and 5315’’ each place it appears 
and inserting ‘‘sections 5314, 5315, and 
5333’’; and 
(ii) in paragraph (6), by inserting 
‘‘(except section 5333)’’ after ‘‘subchapter’’ 
each place it appears; and 
(B) in section 5322, by striking ‘‘section 
5315 or 5324’’ each place it appears and insert-
ing ‘‘section 5315, 5324, or 5333’’. 
(4) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents 
of chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to sec-
tion 5332 the following: 
‘‘5333. Transparent incorporation practices.’’. 
(b) FUNDING AUTHORIZATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out section 5333 of 
title 31, United States Code, as added by subsection 
(a), funds shall be made available to the Financial 
Crimes Enforcement Network (in this subsection re-
ferred to as ‘‘FinCEN’’) to pay reasonable costs relat-
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ing to compliance with the requirements of such sec-
tion. 
(2) FUNDING
SOURCES.—Funds shall be pro-
vided to FinCEN to carry out the purposes described 
in paragraph (1) from one or more of the following 
sources: 
(A) Upon application by FinCEN, and 
without further appropriation, the Secretary of 
the Treasury shall make available to the 
FinCEN unobligated balances described in sec-
tion 9703(g)(4)(B) of title 31, United States 
Code, in the Department of the Treasury For-
feiture Fund established under section 9703(a) of 
title 31, United States Code. 
(B) Upon application by FinCEN, after 
consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, 
and without further appropriation, the Attorney 
General of the United States shall make avail-
able to FinCEN excess unobligated balances (as 
defined in section 524(c)(8)(D) of title 28, 
United States Code) in the Department of Jus-
tice Assets Forfeiture Fund established under sec-
tion 524(c) of title 28, United States Code. 
(3) MAXIMUM AMOUNTS.— 
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(A) DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY.—The 
Secretary of the Treasury may not make avail-
able 
to 
FinCEN 
a 
total 
of 
more 
than 
$30,000,000 under paragraph (2)(A). 
(B) DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.—The Attor-
ney General of the United States may not make 
available to FinCEN a total of more than 
$10,000,000 under paragraph (2)(B). 
(c) FEDERAL CONTRACTORS.—Not later than the first 
day of the first full fiscal year beginning at least 1 year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis-
trator for Federal Procurement Policy shall revise the Fed-
eral Acquisition Regulation maintained under section 
1303(a)(1) of title 41, United States Code, to require any 
contractor or subcontractor who is subject to the require-
ment to disclose beneficial ownership information under 
section 5333 of title 31, United States Code, to provide the 
information required to be disclosed under such section to 
the Federal Government as part of any bid or proposal for 
a contract with a value threshold in excess of the simplified 
acquisition threshold under section 134 of title 41, United 
States Code. 
SEC. 4. STUDIES AND REPORTS. 
(a) UPDATING OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP INFORMA-
TION.— 
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(1) STUDY.—The Secretary of the Treasury, in 
consultation with the Attorney General of the United 
States, shall conduct a study to evaluate— 
(A) the necessity of a requirement for cor-
porations and limited liability companies to up-
date the list of their beneficial owners within a 
specified amount of time after the date of any 
change in the list of beneficial owners or the in-
formation required to be provided relating to 
each beneficial owner, taking into account the 
annual 
filings 
required 
under 
section 
5333(a)(1)(B)(i) of title 31, United States Code, 
and the information contained in such annual 
filings; and 
(B) the burden that a requirement to update 
the list of beneficial owners within a specified 
period of time after a change in such list of bene-
ficial owners would impose on corporations and 
limited liability companies. 
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall submit a report on the study required 
under paragraph (1) to the Committee on Financial 
Services of the House of Representatives and the Com-
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mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 
the Senate 
(3) PUBLIC
COMMENT.—The Secretary of the 
Treasury shall seek and consider public input, com-
ments, and data in order to conduct the study re-
quired under subparagraph paragraph (1). 
(b) OTHER LEGAL ENTITIES.—Not later than 2 years 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller Gen-
eral of the United States shall conduct a study and submit 
to the Congress a report— 
(1) identifying each State or Indian Tribe that 
has procedures that enable persons to form or register 
under the laws of the State or Indian Tribe partner-
ships, trusts, or other legal entities, and the nature of 
those procedures; 
(2) identifying each State or Indian Tribe that 
requires persons seeking to form or register partner-
ships, trusts, or other legal entities under the laws of 
the State or Indian Tribe to provide information 
about the beneficial owners (as that term is defined 
in section 5333(d)(1) of title 31, United States Code, 
as added by this Act) or beneficiaries of such entities, 
and the nature of the required information; 
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(3) evaluating whether the lack of available bene-
ficial ownership information for partnerships, trusts, 
or other legal entities— 
(A) raises concerns about the involvement of 
such entities in terrorism, money laundering, tax 
evasion, securities fraud, or other misconduct; 
(B) has impeded investigations into entities 
suspected of such misconduct; and 
(C) increases the costs to financial institu-
tions of complying with due diligence require-
ments imposed under the Bank Secrecy Act, the 
USA PATRIOT Act, or other applicable Federal, 
State, or Tribal law; and 
(4) evaluating whether the failure of the United 
States to require beneficial ownership information for 
partnerships and trusts formed or registered in the 
United States has elicited international criticism and 
what steps, if any, the United States has taken or is 
planning to take in response. 
(c) EFFECTIVENESS OF INCORPORATION PRACTICES.— 
Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall con-
duct a study and submit to the Congress a report assessing 
the effectiveness of incorporation practices implemented 
under this Act and the amendments made by this Act in— 
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(1) providing law enforcement agencies with 
prompt access to reliable, useful, and complete bene-
ficial ownership information; and 
(2) strengthening the capability of law enforce-
ment agencies to combat incorporation abuses, civil 
and criminal misconduct, and detect, prevent, or 
punish terrorism, money laundering, tax evasion, or 
other misconduct. 
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act, the terms ‘‘Bank Secrecy Act’’, ‘‘beneficial 
owner’’, ‘‘corporation’’, and ‘‘limited liability company’’ 
have the meaning given those terms, respectively, under sec-
tion 5333(d) of title 31, United States Code. 
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Union Calendar No. 180 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 2513 
[Report No. 116–227] 
A BILL 
To ensure that persons who form corporations or 
limited liability companies in the United States 
disclose the beneficial owners of those corpora-
tions or limited liability companies, in order to 
prevent wrongdoers from exploiting United 
States corporations and limited liability compa-
nies for criminal gain, to assist law enforcement 
in detecting, preventing, and punishing terrorism, 
money laundering, and other misconduct involv-
ing United States corporations and limited liabil-
ity companies, and for other purposes. 
OCTOBER 8, 2019 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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