Subject to Inquiry

Subject to Inquiry

THE LATEST ON GOVERNMENT INQUIRIES AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

Government Investigations and White Collar Litigation Group

Jeffrey M. Hanna

Photo of Jeffrey M. Hanna Jeff is co-leader of the firm’s Banking Regulation & Enforcement Practice Group and a senior member of the Government Investigations & White Collar Bank Defense & Counseling and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)/Anti-Money Laundering (AML) teams. Jeff focuses primarily on the federal Bank Secrecy Act and related state laws and regulations governing financial institutions, including banks, money services businesses (MSBs), and casinos. He regularly represents financial institutions in connection with BSA/AML obligations, including in regulatory and law enforcement investigations, examinations, and day-to-day compliance obligations.

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Reducing BSA Compliance Obligations? A Look at the Senate’s STREAMLINE Act

By Jeffrey M. Hanna and Chelsea Smith Press on Anti-Money Laundering
The Senate has introduced the Streamlining Transaction Reporting and Ensuring Anti-Money Laundering Improvements for a New Era Act, or the STREAMLINE Act, an initiative led by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott and Senator John Kennedy, with support from several Republican co-sponsors. For the first time in over five decades, the bill would modernize key… Continue Reading

FinCEN Eyes Easing Compliance Burdens on Financial Institutions

By Jeffrey M. Hanna, Elissa Baur and Patrick A. Wallace on Anti-Money Laundering, Compliance, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) has recently taken two steps in furtherance of the Trump Administration’s deregulatory agenda.  In late September, FinCEN posted a notice to the Federal Register soliciting comments on a proposed “Survey of the Costs of Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) Compliance” to be completed by non-bank… Continue Reading

FinCEN Hits Pause: AML Rule for Investment Advisers Delayed

By Jeffrey M. Hanna, Todd M. Beaton, Jr., Jackie Wells and Chelsea Smith Press on Anti-Money Laundering
In a move to balance regulatory efficiency and cost, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) officially announced on July 21, 2025, that it will postpone the effective date, from January 1, 2026, to January 1, 2028, of the Investment Adviser Anti-Money Laundering Rule (“IA AML Rule”), see Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism Program… Continue Reading

FinCEN Narrows Focus on Southwest Border

By John Adams, Elissa Baur, Katherine Richardson, V. Kathleen Dougherty and Jeffrey M. Hanna on Anti-Money Laundering, Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends
In the last few weeks, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has circulated several instructions focusing on money services businesses operating in the southwest United States, answering the current Administration’s call for increased security measures in that area.  On March 11, FinCEN issued a Geographic Targeting Order (GTO) adding more requirements to certain money services… Continue Reading

Treasury Department Formally Exempts U.S. Companies from CTA

By Jeffrey M. Hanna and Lauren Mann on Anti-Bribery and Corruption
The guidance U.S. companies have been waiting for after years of ups and downs is finally here.  In line with our last update, on March 21, 2025, FinCEN issued an interim final rule exempting U.S. companies and persons from the requirement to report, modify, or correct beneficial ownership information under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA)… Continue Reading

Treasury Department Declares Intent to Limit CTA to Foreign Reporting Companies

By Jeffrey M. Hanna and Lauren Mann on Anti-Bribery and Corruption
After the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) stated that it would hold off on taking enforcement actions against Reporting Companies for failure to comply with the March 21, 2025, deadline under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced its own intention to limit CTA enforcement to foreign companies.… Continue Reading

FinCEN’s March 21 CTA Deadline to Report Beneficial Ownership Info Will Not Be Enforced … Yet

By Jeffrey M. Hanna and Lauren Mann on Anti-Bribery and Corruption
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) published new guidance on Feb. 27, 2025, putting its plan to begin enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) on hold. After the Feb. 17 order by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Smith v. United States Department of Treasury made the CTA once again… Continue Reading

Texas Court Stays Nationwide Injunction Staying the CTA, Deadline to Report Beneficial Ownership Information is March 21, 2025

By Jeffrey M. Hanna and Lauren Mann on Anti-Bribery and Corruption
In our last update, we reported that despite the Supreme Court staying the nationwide injunction against FinCEN’s enforcement of the CTA in one Texas case, a nationwide stay of the Reporting Rule granted by a federal judge in the Eastern District in Smith v. United States Department of Treasury (6:24-cv-00336) remained in effect. … Continue Reading

DOJ Seeks Supreme Court Review of CTA Injunction

By Lauren Mann and Jeffrey M. Hanna on Anti-Bribery and Corruption
Another flurry of court activity has further muddied the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) waters, leaving additional uncertainty about its enforceability.  You may recall that on December 26, 2024, the Fifth Circuit vacated its own order granting the Government’s motion to stay the district court’s preliminary injunction, leaving FinCEN unable to enforce the CTA and lifting any filing… Continue Reading

Corporate Transparency Act Reporting Obligations: On Hold Until At Least Late March 2025

By Jeffrey M. Hanna and Lauren Mann on Anti-Bribery and Corruption
A flurry of activity in the Fifth Circuit this holiday season left clients asking the same questions about the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA): “Do we report Beneficial Ownership Information?”  “If so, when is the deadline?”  “Will this Act survive judicial review?” You may recall that on December 26, 2024, the Fifth Circuit vacated the “part… Continue Reading

Here We Go Again – Fifth Circuit Lifts the CTA Order Lifting the Injunction

By Jeffrey M. Hanna and Lauren Mann on Anti-Money Laundering
Just what you wanted – another holiday edition of Subject to Inquiry tracking the legal wrangling around the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).  If you’ve just joined our program: McGuireWoods will be closely monitoring developments and publishing alerts as the case proceeds.  As with the message following the December 3 injunction, it is reasonable to slow… Continue Reading

Reporting Companies Have Less Than Three Weeks to File Beneficial Ownership Info With FinCEN

By Jeffrey M. Hanna and Lauren Mann on Anti-Money Laundering
On Dec. 23, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted the government’s emergency motion for a stay of a District Court’s nationwide preliminary injunction against enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). The appellate court’s unpublished order in Texas Top Cop Shop v. Garland reinstates the act, which has a year-end deadline… Continue Reading

Federal District Court Issues Nationwide Preliminary Injunction Against Enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act

By Jeffrey M. Hanna and Lauren Mann on Anti-Money Laundering
On December 3, 2024, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”).  Enacted as part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, the CTA requires certain legal entities to report beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) to the U.S. Department of… Continue Reading

Deadline to Determine Corporate Transparency Act Reporting Obligations Fast Approaching

By Jeffrey M. Hanna and Lauren Mann on Anti-Money Laundering
As 2024 comes to a close, companies created prior to January 1, 2024 should be mindful of the year-end deadline to analyze whether they must report Beneficial Ownership Information (“BOI”) to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) pursuant to the reporting provisions of the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”).  Companies should take… Continue Reading

Highlights from the 2024 SIFMA Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Crimes Conference on the Corporate Transparency Act

By Jeffrey M. Hanna and Lauren Mann on Anti-Money Laundering
On May 6, 2024, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) Director Andrea Gacki, Acting Chief of the Enforcement Division Steve Hsieh, Acting Associate Director of the Policy Division James Martinelli, and other key industry leaders, convened at SIFMA’s Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Crimes conference in New York to discuss, among other things, FinCEN’s priorities for… Continue Reading

Federal District Court Declares Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) Unconstitutional

By Jeffrey M. Hanna, Lauren Mann and Ashley Bouchez on Anti-Money Laundering, Compliance
On March 1, 2024, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama declared the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) unconstitutional.  Enacted as part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, the CTA requires certain legal entities to report beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”). … Continue Reading

FinCEN Issues Access Rule Compliance Guide for Beneficial Ownership Information

By Jeffrey M. Hanna and Lauren Mann on Compliance
Rule Regarding Access to Beneficial Ownership Information Takes Effect On February 21, 2024, FinCEN published a Small Entity Compliance Guide to aid in compliance with the Corporate Transparency Act’s (“CTA”) Beneficial Ownership Information (“BOI”) Access and Safeguards Rule (“Access Rule”).  The Compliance Guide is called the Small Entity Compliance Guide only because federal law requires… Continue Reading

New York LLC Transparency Act Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements to Take Effect

By Jeffrey M. Hanna and Lauren Mann on Compliance
On December 23, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the New York LLC Transparency Act (“NYLTA”), which requires LLCs to disclose beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) to the New York Department of State.  Effective December 21, 2024, the NYLTA will impose separate BOI reporting requirements on New York LLCs, which are also subject to the… Continue Reading

FinCEN Extends Time to File Beneficial Ownership Information for Entities Created After January 1, 2024

By Jeffrey M. Hanna and Lauren Mann on Anti-Money Laundering, Compliance
The Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) was enacted in 2021 as part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020. The CTA requires certain business entities (“Reporting Companies”) to report beneficial ownership information (“BOI”), and, for entities created or registered on or after January 1, 2024, information with respect to any individual who directly files the document… Continue Reading

FinCEN Specifies When and How Reporting Companies May Use FinCEN Identifiers

By Jeffrey M. Hanna and Lauren Mann on Anti-Money Laundering, Compliance
The Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) was enacted in 2021 as part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, requiring certain business entities (“Reporting Companies”) to report beneficial ownership information (“BOI”), and, for entities created or registered on or after January 1, 2024, information with respect to any individual who directly files the document creating the… Continue Reading

Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act

By Jeffrey M. Hanna and Lauren Mann on Anti-Money Laundering, Compliance
Corporate Transparency Act Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements to Take Effect In 2021, the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) was enacted as part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, requiring certain business entities (“Reporting Companies”) to report beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”).  FinCEN issued the final… Continue Reading

DOJ Announces “Pilot Program Regarding Compensation Incentives and Clawbacks” with Significant Ramifications for Corporations Facing Criminal Investigations

By John S. Moran, Brandon M. Santos, Casey Erin Lucier, Jeffrey M. Hanna and Caroline Schmidt Burton on Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Trends
The Department of Justice Criminal Division announced a “Pilot Program Regarding Compensation Incentives and Clawbacks” (the “Program”) this week with broad implications for corporations and their individual executives operating within the Department’s jurisdiction. During two keynote speeches delivered at the American Bar Association’s National Institute on White Collar Crime, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco (remarks… Continue Reading

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