Although in the works for a very long time, it’s only recently that the Corporate Transparency Act has come to have a concrete effect on businesses. Through the CTA, businesses are required to file a report, detailing not just the company’s information, but also that of their owners, and of other individuals involved in its management. Northrop Grumman will likely build the reporting technology used by FinCEN.
It’s important that small and larger businesses alike comply with the CTA, lest they face serious consequences, including criminal punishment. It’s also important to understand who stands behind the Corporate Transparency Act, and how the necessary technology was created.
Northrop Grumman and a little history
The fight against fraud and money laundering has been a long and winding one in this country. Officially, it began back in 1970, when Congress first enacted the Bank Secrecy Act. This required businesses to start filing reports and keeping track of their activity, in order to minimize fraudulence.
More than fifty years later, Congress enacted the Corporate Transparency Act, also called the beneficial ownership FinCEN report, as part of its National Defense Authorization Act, on January 1st, 2021. But ten months before the CTA was enacted, in March of 2020, it also put out a special notice in relation to the Bank Secrecy Act. In the notice, it was announced that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) would negotiate a sole source of procurement to Northrop Grumman, for the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) Electronic Filing (E-Filing) System Development Services and Operational Support. The notice was put out by the Department of Treasury, specifically the Bureau of Fiscal Service (who also would carry out negotiations), on FinCEN’s behalf.
Northrop Grumman, which is comprised largely of military employees, has been responsible, in the past, for technology used in reporting tax information turns automatically, and Affordable Care Act returns, among many others.
Enter the InflowSuite
When you think of the sheer quantity of reports that FinCEN would need to keep track of and sort through for the Corporate Transparency Act, it stands to reason they’d need a strong filing system to do so. Well, aerospace and defense company Northrop Grumman provided that system.
The Inflow Suite is a complex filing system designed by Northrop Grumman, with beneficial ownership, FinCEN. It is part of the larger BSA E-Filing System, whose purpose was to not only maintain the existing information, but continuously update, and properly order new info.
Designed especially for the beneficial ownership of FinCEN, to contribute to CTA report filing, the InflowSuite is a central component of the BSA E-Filing System, and one with massive power.
According to documents in the public domain, the Inflow Suite is capable of processing high-volume filing tests, at a speed of 345M records in a single day. Sporting technology with such tremendous power, it stands to reason that Northrop Grumman would be FinCEN’s go-to provider to get their filing technology.
Bottom Line
In itself, this information should also serve as a warning to companies and businesses, when considering the CTA. Thinking of the immense processing power of FinCEN’s technology, it would be wise to abide by the Corporate Transparency Act as best you can, and ensure you submit complete and accurate information.
