Beneficial ownership reporting was rolled back in the US but tightened elsewhere. Three finance leaders share what changed and how founders can prepare for the next rule.

Beneficial ownership has been one of the busiest areas of fintech regulation this year. The US rolled back beneficial ownership reporting for most companies. Meanwhile, the EU, the UK and others kept adding checks on who owns and controls a business.

So we asked industry leaders one question: what is one fintech regulation that changed how your company operates in the past 12 months, and what would you tell other founders to do before the next one lands? We wanted to hear from compliance officers, founders and CFOs who deal with KYC, anti-money laundering (AML) or cross-border reporting.

Their answers share a theme. Beneficial ownership is no longer a form you file once. Instead, it is a record you keep current.

The US rollback of beneficial ownership reporting

The biggest US change came from FinCEN. On 11 August 2026, it issued a final rule that permanently exempts companies formed in the United States from reporting under the Corporate Transparency Act. Now only companies formed abroad and registered to do business in a US state still file, and only for their non-US owners. FinCEN puts that group at about 28,000 companies.

“A client asked me last in August if they still had to file their beneficial ownership report. For a company organized in the US the answer is no and permanently so now that FinCEN has finalized the rule. What remains is the bank, as banks and lenders continue to require disclosure of who owns the business, and the information reported must agree with your records, your cap table and account opening forms.

What I do is keep a current ownership record and a short list of the applicable laws that govern the entity, each annotated with the date I last reviewed it. Then I review both these items quarterly. When a law changes that’s editing, and when your entity’s status changes that’s amending the record. And if you’re incorporated outside the US but registered inside you may need to evaluate your own exposure, as the exemption does not necessarily extend to you.”

Ankit Sarawagi, Curator, CFO Matrix

His point about banks matters. The separate Customer Due Diligence (CDD) Rule still requires banks to collect beneficial ownership details from business customers. However, FinCEN eased it on 13 February 2026. Banks now collect the details when a business opens its first account. After that, they update them when facts change or when risk calls for it. In short, the filing went away, but the questions from banks did not.

KYC and AML as ongoing work

Not every respondent pointed to a rollback. For some, the pressure ran the other way.

“One regulation change that had a major operational impact was the increased focus on beneficial ownership and customer verification requirements. It forced us to treat KYC and AML as ongoing processes rather than something completed only during onboarding.

The biggest lesson was to avoid building compliance reactively. We tightened customer data collection, improved transaction monitoring, documented escalation procedures, and made sure we could produce the required records quickly.

For other founders, I would recommend doing a regulatory gap assessment before a new rule takes effect. Identify which customers, transactions, data fields, reports, and internal controls are affected, then assign an owner and deadline to each change. I would also keep compliance documentation and audit trails organized continuously rather than trying to reconstruct them when a regulator or banking partner asks.”

Ahmed Yousuf, Financial Author, CoinTime

That shift matches where rules are heading outside the US. In the EU, the new Anti-Money Laundering Regulation applies from 10 July 2027. It sets one rulebook for customer due diligence and beneficial ownership checks across all member states. Likewise, in the UK, Companies House identity checks became mandatory for new directors and people with significant control on 18 November 2025. The transition for existing directors ends this November.

Building compliance into everyday systems

Other answers focused less on one rule and more on habits that hold up whatever the rule says.

“I have experience in the USA, India and UAE with a combination of finance, legal and compliance responsibility. My experience doesn’t cover specifically what fintech regulation changed our business in the last year.

When founders ask for my advice, the first thing I tell them is to ensure compliance within their finance infrastructure. Continuously maintain updated records to understand what regulation applies and what process changes will be needed if the requirements change. Understanding and handling the practical aspect of compliance and corporate governance becomes easier if embedded within systems and business processes. This has been my experience.”

Abhinav Gupta, Founder, Profitjets

US regulators are moving in the same direction. In April 2026, FinCEN proposed new AML program rules that focus on effective, risk-based programmes rather than paperwork. For founders building compliance from day one, that means designing controls into the product. In other words, compliance should not be a layer added just before an audit.

How to prepare before the next rule lands

Taken together, the answers point to three habits. First, keep a live beneficial ownership record and check it against your bank forms and cap table. Second, run a gap assessment as soon as a rule is proposed, not when it takes effect. Third, keep audit trails current so records are ready when a regulator or banking partner asks.

Lead times are usually long enough to act. For example, US regulators proposed AML and customer identification rules for stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act in April and June 2026, well before any final rule. Similarly, the EU agreed its new AML rules years before they apply.

Identity checks are also moving into software. As a result, KYC providers now sit at the centre of how fintechs verify customers and their beneficial ownership at scale.

What to watch next

Several deadlines are close. In the UK, the transition for director identity checks ends in November 2026. During 2027, EU crypto platforms will file their first DAC8 tax reports, which cover data collected from 1 January 2026. In Japan, the Diet passed a law on 15 July 2026 that moves crypto trading under securities rules, and it is expected to take effect in 2027.

In the US, the picture could still shift. Domestic companies are exempt from beneficial ownership reporting today, but a future administration or Congress could revisit that. Meanwhile, FinCEN’s regulatory agenda lists a formal proposal to revise the CDD Rule for March 2027.

The safest approach is the one our respondents described. Keep ownership records current, and review them on a schedule, whichever way the rules move.

FintechBits covers payments, banking and fintech developments for readers in the US and UK. This article is for information only and is not financial advice. Views expressed are those of the FintechBits editorial team.