We believe the executor of the estate should be treated as the beneficial owner of the CD, based on informal guidance we received from a representative of FinCEN, who advised us that this would be the appropriate treatment in the situation you are describing.

Also, we note that FinCEN created a temporary ninety-day exception from the requirement to collect beneficial ownership information for accounts that automatically renew or rollover, provided that the accounts were established before May 11, 2018. This exception expires August 9, 2018. If the auto-renewal will be occurring before August 9, 2018, and the CD was established before May 11, 2018, your bank is not required to collect beneficial ownership information for the CD account.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• FinCEN Customer Due Diligence Rule, 31 CFR 1010.230(a) (“Covered financial institutions are required to establish and maintain written procedures that are reasonably designed to identify and verify beneficial owners of legal entity customers and to include such procedures in their anti-money laundering compliance program required under 31 U.S.C. 5318(h) and its implementing regulations.”)

• FinCEN Ruling FIN-2018-R002, Beneficial Ownership Requirements for Legal Entity Customers of Certain Financial Products and Services with Automatic Rollovers or Renewals (May 16, 2018) (“The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is issuing this ruling to provide a 90-day limited exceptive relief to covered financial institutions from the obligations of the Beneficial Ownership Requirements for Legal Entity Customers (31 CFR § 1010.230) (Beneficial Ownership Rule) with respect to certain financial products and services that automatically rollover or renew (i.e., certificate of deposit (CD) or loan accounts) and were established before the Beneficial Ownership Rule’s Applicability Date, May 11, 2018.  This exception begins, retroactively, on May 11, 2018, and will expire on August 9, 2018.”)