Palm Debuts Beneficial Owner Information Filing Tool

Beginning next year, many American businesses will have to comply with the Corporate Transparency Act.

This law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, requires certain companies to provide the government with beneficial ownership information (BOI), or “identifying information about the individuals who directly or indirectly own or control a company,” as the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) puts it.

To help small businesses meet this deadline, identity and compliance platform Palm on Monday (Nov. 11) introduced an artificial intelligence (AI) filing tool, dubbed the Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Filing Assistant.

“With millions of small businesses rushing to meet the BOI filing deadline, we knew we needed to create something fast and easy,” said Palm Co-founder Alex Goode. “Our AI Assistant transforms a complex filing into a simple experience, guiding business owners through their filing step-by-step. What typically can take hours can now be completed in a few minutes.”

FinCEN, a division of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, announced the new rules in 2022, aimed at keeping criminals from using anonymous shell companies to mask illegal income.

“For too long, it has been far too easy for criminals, Russian oligarchs and other bad actors to fund their illicit activity by hiding and moving money through anonymous shell companies and other corporate structures right here in the United States,” said acting FinCEN Director Himamauli Das in a news release at the time.

“This final rule is a significant step forward in our efforts to support national security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies in their work to curb illicit activities.”

The law requires businesses to file an initial BOI report by Jan. 1 or risk civil penalties of up to $500 per day and criminal penalties including imprisonment.

“Our mission is to help every American small business meet this deadline,” added Goode. “By making our AI assistant free and accessible to all, we’re removing the barriers that typically prevent small businesses from maintaining perfect compliance.”

In other compliance news, PYMNTS wrote last week about the challenges facing banks and other corporates as they log unclaimed funds and tangible property — such as uncashed checks, deposit accounts, CDs and safe deposit boxes — that need to be reported to the states where owners of the property live.

Attempts to create a uniform, nationwide set of reporting standards and deadlines have never really gotten off the ground.

Freda Pepper, general counsel of unclaimed property at Sovos, told PYMNTS that “the challenge is understanding and keeping up with the state requirements. It’s like a moving ball because the states are constantly changing their laws.”