Reported by Carmen Molina Acosta

(Excerpt shared below. To read full report, go to: https://www.icij.org/news/2025/09/fincen-plans-to-delete-data-on-u-s-companies-from-beneficial-ownership-database/)

Five years after ICIJ’s FinCEN Files investigation exposed the pivotal role the U.S. financial system plays in global dirty money flows, authorities are winding back landmark reforms pushed through in the wake of the revelations, prompting widespread concerns from transparency advocates.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network — the namesake of ICIJ and BuzzFeed News’ 2020 investigation — announced last week that it expects to delete ownership information that U.S. companies submitted as part of the launch of the previously celebrated company ownership registry.

At a congressional subcommittee hearing, FinCEN’s director flagged plans to delete the data in a proposed rule expected to be finalized later this year. Once the rule is in place, only foreign businesses with foreign owners will be required to report ownership information to the federal government.

Without beneficial ownership information, investigations are useless.

— Gary Kalman, Executive Director of Transparency International U.S. 

Experts told ICIJ that the move further guts the Corporate Transparency Act, a 2021 bipartisan law passed months after the publication of the FinCEN Files aimed at cracking down on anonymous shell companies that facilitate illicit finance. A key part of the legislation was the establishment of the company ownership registry, which was officially launched last yearamid ongoing political and legal challenges, and which required companies operating in the U.S. to submit ownership information to the Treasury.