Deregulatory-Establishing United States Citizenship for MARAD Program Participation; Simplifying the Application Process

On May 1, 2019, MARAD published in the Federal Register an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), titled "How to Best Evidence Corporate Citizenship: Policy and Regulatory Review," soliciting public comment on steps MARAD could take to simplify and modernize the process for evidencing U.S. citizenship. Consistent with the comments MARAD received, the proposed rule would simplify and modernize the process for establishing United States citizenship of corporations and other business formations participating in MARAD programs. In the interest of minimizing the unnecessary disclosure of personally identifiable information, the proposed rule would also eliminate the requirement to provide dates and places of birth of corporate executives, directors, and stock owners as required in the current form of affidavit of citizenship. The proposed rule would also amend the form of affidavit with respect to publicly traded entities by eliminating the requirement to provide certain information regarding registered owners of stock, eliminate the notarization requirement, and provide a simple and streamlined process for recertification.