Insurers may get significant exemption in defense bill

A related provision would help protect insurers from liability if federal investigators ask the company to keep a suspicious account open to avoid making potential criminals aware of an investigation. (Credit: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)

In its giant military spending package, Congress indicated it wants to exempt insurers and insurance producers from proposed anti-money-laundering reporting requirements.

The anti-money-laundering reporting requirements appear on page 2,996 of the 4,517-page conference report PDF file, in Title LXIV — Establishing Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirements. The section would create a new Corporate Transparency Act, which would require some corporations and limited liability companies to send reports about their ownership to the federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), in an effort to keep non-U.S. individuals and entities from using anonymous shell companies to launder money or break the law in other ways.