Wolters Kluwer expert provides insights on Beneficial Ownership reporting requirements for trusts

Since the Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) went into effect earlier this year, Wolters Kluwer CT Corporation has fielded a range of queries in light of the complexity surrounding trusts and the types of trusts that are required to file a BOI report with the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and, where a trust owns or controls a reporting company, who are the reporting company’s beneficial owners. George May, Vice President, Small Business, CT Corporation, addresses some of the most frequently asked questions about trusts.

“The eligibility of trusts for Beneficial Ownership Information reporting is complicated due to the expansive nature of them,” explains May. “For example, some trusts own multiple reporting interests in companies, while others do not.”

“One of the main questions we’ve been hearing is which exemptions might apply to trusts,” says May. “Of the 23 exemptions that apply to beneficial ownership applicability, five of them would most likely pertain to trusts: if they are a large operating company; a bank; a tax-exempt entity; a subsidiary of certain exempt entities; or an inactive entity.”

For those trusts that own or control, in whole or in part, reporting companies, the personal information of those reporting companies’ beneficial owners must be reported.

“As this new CTA rule now in effect pertains to individuals, a trust itself is not a beneficial owner. A beneficial owner is a single individual,” said May.

Those individuals, he explained, could be trustees, beneficiaries, settlors, grantors or others depending upon whether they have substantial control over the reporting company or own at least 25% of the reporting company’s ownership interests.

Wolters Kluwer has recently published a white paper clarifying the circumstances under which trusts and the reporting companies they manage must conform to the new BOI reporting requirements. For more information that addresses commonly asked questions regarding BOI compliance, visit CT Corporation’s Beneficial Ownership Frequently Asked Questions webpage.

Reporters wishing to arrange an interview on with Wolters Kluwer experts on this topic are invited to contact David Feider, Associate Director, External Communications, Wolters Kluwer FCC.

More information on navigating the new beneficial ownership reporting requirements is available on the Wolters Kluwer resource page, “Beneficial Ownership Information Compliance from CT Corporation.”