House panel grills FinCEN on rollback of Corporate Transparency Act reporting

House lawmakers used a Wednesday oversight hearing to press the director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network on the agency—s March interim rule that exempts most U.S. companies from filing beneficial ownership reports under the Corporate Transparency Act.

The hearing, convened by the subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance and International Financial Institutions, focused on whether FinCEN—s change in approach strikes the right balance between preventing illicit finance and protecting small-business privacy. Rep. Joyce Beatty, the subcommittee—s ranking member, said the agency—s rollback risks weakening law enforcement tools. "FinCEN follows the money to the origins of these drug supply chains to disrupt finance streams," Beatty said, adding that the agency is "central to that effort."

The exchange centered on the March interim final rule that, as Director Andrea Gacki told members, focuses reporting on foreign reporting companies and foreign beneficial owners. "The March 20, 2025 interim final rule that FinCEN issued took a different approach consistent with administration priorities," Gacki said. "The present rule requires reports from foreign reporting companies that are not subject to any exemptions, and they are required only to report foreign beneficial owners. We intend to finalize this rule in the upcoming year."

Members raised two recurring concerns: whether narrowing the regime will create enforcement gaps that criminals can exploit and what FinCEN will do with BOI (beneficial ownership information) already collected. Representative Jake Auchincloss (referred to in some exchanges as the chairman or by last name where used by members) and Representative Roger Williams asked whether FinCEN will delete data no longer required by the interim rule. Gacki said FinCEN expects to resolve data-retention questions when it finalizes the rule and that it is "our intention ... to delete any information that was filed that is no longer required to be filed, that is currently being protected at FinCEN." (Transcript: 2492.86———to———4984.855)

Other members pressed the agency for evidence that the earlier, broader reporting regime produced actionable results proportional to the compliance burden. Committee leaders repeatedly referenced the program—s potential reach to roughly 32 million small businesses. "It marks an important step towards easing regulatory burdens on some 32,000,000 hardworking, American small business people nationwide," Chair Hill said in his opening remarks about the interim rule.

Director Gacki emphasized FinCEN—s role in coordinating with law enforcement and the agency—s public reporting about how BOI and other Bank Secrecy Act data support investigations. She also stressed the administration—s policy judgment that the burdens on small business required reconsideration and that the agency will continue to review comments to the rulemaking before finalizing it.

The hearing also included repeated member requests for more transparent metrics: how many prosecutions or law enforcement actions directly resulted from BOI or from Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) and Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs). Gacki said FinCEN is evaluating reporting burdens and that the agency produces public reports, but she did not provide a single, consolidated figure for prosecutions tied to BOI or BSA filings during the hearing.

Why it matters: Beneficial ownership reporting is a new, large-scale data collection mandated by statute. Changes in who must report and how long reports are retained affect privacy, small-business compliance costs and the investigative capabilities of state, local and federal law enforcement.

Looking ahead: Gacki said FinCEN plans to issue a final rule this year and will resolve data-retention questions concurrently. Members on both sides signaled they will follow the rulemaking closely and may seek statutory clarifications if the final rule departs from Congress—s intent.