The interest of the U.S. Treasury in addressing potential money laundering in real estate is nothing new. Two years ago, the department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, bureau started looking for public comments on new rules for commercial real estate.

But things have been delayed. That's about to end, according to a Reuters report. FinCEN is expected to release its proposed rule in early 2024. Real estate professionals would have to report identities of the beneficial owners of companies looking to pay for real estate with cash.

"Treasury has advanced its efforts to prevent corrupt and other illicit actors from misusing anonymous, non-financed (i.e., all-cash) purchases of residential real estate to launder or hide the proceeds of crime," the department noted in a recent release. "Since 2016, FinCEN has leveraged its Residential Real Estate Geographic Targeting Order (GTO) program to collect information about certain residential real estate transactions in the United States. In December 2021, Treasury issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) to solicit public feedback on how to address the risks associated with this sector. Building on this information and public feedback, Treasury aims to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in early 2024 that will be an important step toward bringing greater transparency to this sector."