Created as part of the Corporate Transparency Act in 2021, a rule that required millions of U.S. small businesses to report their ownership structures to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, will officially end following a final rule from FinCEN. The original reporting rule, meant to combat money laundering and related financial crimes, was issued in 2022 and went into effect Jan. 1, 2024. Now, FinCEN’s final rule, released Wednesday, permanently removes the requirement. The beneficial ownership reporting rule had been seen as confusing among acquirers and processors. “FinCEN’s final rule provides welcome certainty by permanently removing a duplicative reporting requirement,” Talbott says in an email to Digital Transactions News.