Competing U.S. proposals that would require companies to disclose their beneficial owners have gained unprecedented momentum in recent months, with no signs of a consolidated measure in sight.
The U.S. Treasury Department finalized its long-awaited customer due diligence rule Friday shortly after the introduction by the White House of a bevy of corporate transparency-related measures.
U.S. officials will formally propose this month a long-planned rule that would require banks to identify the owners of their corporate clients, according to an Office of Management and Budget schedule.
The White House is throwing its support behind legislation that would require U.S. companies to better identify their beneficial owners as part of a strategy to thwart international crime groups.
The Financial Action Task Force is weighing whether to ask jurisdictions to loosen their privacy laws and require companies to retain data on their owners, among other changes to the group's standards.
The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on a Senate-approved bill that would pressure foreign financial institutions to disclose their U.S. clients and extend government subpoena powers of financial records.