GCCA has recently joined a broad-based coalition of industry partners in opposition to the Establishing New Authorities for Business Laundering and Enabling Risks to Security (ENABLERS) Act. The bill passed the House as part of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Under the guise of combatting illicit activities, the ENABLERS Act would require a broad pool of covered businesses, foundations, and charities to collect and report beneficial ownership information, report any suspicious transactions, and establish and enforce anti-money laundering policies.
This legislation would dramatically expand the recently-enacted Corporate Transparency Act’s (CTA) reporting requirements, despite the fact that those requirements have yet to be put in place and are unlikely to result in any meaningful law enforcement successes. While the bill’s stated goal is to increase reporting by “professional service providers who serve as key gatekeepers to the U.S. financial system,” its broad language would cover the owners, board members, and senior executives of most businesses and charities. Anyone engaged in an entity’s formation, acquisition, or disposal would be covered, as would owners and employees engaged in nearly every financial activity of the business, including money management, payment processing, wire transfers, or buying and selling currencies. These covered individuals would be subject to audits conducted by the Treasury Department initially, while the Act requires Treasury to recommend additional enforcement tools after a year. By way of comparison, the related CTA imposes fines of up to $10,000, and jail time of up to two years for covered business owners and employees who fail to make the appropriate reports.
The ENABLERS Act places a disproportionate burden on millions of law-abiding businesses in America and is unlikely to assist law enforcement agencies in cracking down on money laundering and illicit drug trades. Instead, the bill would subject millions of law-abiding businesses, non-profits, and other entities to costly and time-consuming reporting, audits, fines, and possible jail terms. GCCA will continue to work with partners in opposition to this legislation.
