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12/27/2024 -
Fifth Circuit Vacates Stay of CTA Preliminary Injunction, Halting Enforcement
On December 26, 2024, the Fifth Circuit vacated the stay of a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and its Reporting Rule. This order reinstates the December 3 injunction issued by the District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland.
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12/24/2024 -
Corporate Transparency Act: Fifth Circuit Lifts Nationwide Injunction, FinCEN Extends Filing Deadlines
A divided motions panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted the US government’s request for an emergency stay of a nationwide preliminary injunction against the government’s enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) that was issued by the District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on December 3, 2024. The stay reintroduced the January 1, 2025 deadline for filings under the CTA for reporting companies formed prior to January 1, 2024. Shortly after the ruling, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued guidance extending the filing deadline to January 13, 2025 for most reporting companies.
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12/09/2024 -
US District Court Halts Reporting Requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act
The US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a nationwide preliminary injunction halting the reporting requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act.
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09/27/2024 -
The US Corporate Transparency Act Compliance Deadline is Approaching: What Companies Need to Know
The deadline for Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) compliance is fast approaching. Companies formed or registered to do business in the United States prior to January 1, 2024 must file initial beneficial ownership reports with the US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) by January 1, 2025, unless exempt. With only months left before the deadline, companies should act now to ensure compliance with the CTA’s reporting requirements.
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08/19/2024 -
US Corporate Transparency Act – What Chinese Businesses and Investors Need to Know
More than half a year has passed since the United States’ Corporate Transparency Act came into effect, and for existing entities created or registered to do business in the United States before January 1, 2024, less than five months remains to submit an initial BOI report (by January 1, 2025). This Lawflash summarizes the key content of the act, its implications for various Chinese investors and companies that are active in the United States, and the filing deadlines. Chinese companies and investors that have incorporated entities or have registered to conduct business in the United States, to the extent they have not already done so, are advised to assess the application of the act to their US entities as soon as possible so as to avoid these decisions being put off until the end of the year.
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04/19/2024 -
LLCs and Small Business Owners: Be Sure to File Beneficial Ownership Information Report to Comply with CTA
January 1, 2024 ushered in a new regulatory scheme for small business owners across the United States with the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). The CTA seeks to combat illicit activity involving tax fraud, money laundering, and terrorism financing, but brings new burdens for owners of limited liability companies (LLCs), corporations, and other business entities (referred to as “reporting companies” by the CTA) created by a filing with a secretary of state or similar office under state or tribal law.
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03/08/2024 -
Corporate Transparency Act Update: Beneficial Ownership Reporting in Tax Equity Transactions
Regulations recently coming into effect under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) may impose new beneficial ownership reporting obligations on clean energy tax equity partnerships and joint ventures. The rules now require reporting companies to disclose certain personal information of each “beneficial owner” to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen). The regulatory language and available guidance raise a number of questions in the context of these equity investment structures.
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03/04/2024 -
US District Court Declares Corporate Transparency Act Is Unconstitutional
The US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama issued a landmark decision on March 1, 2024 in which it held that the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) is unconstitutional. In the opinion, Judge Liles Burke held that the CTA does not fall within Congress’s powers to regulate commerce, oversee foreign affairs and national security, or impose taxes and related regulations.
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12/06/2023 -
Corporate Transparency Act: Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements for Small, Medium Businesses Effective Jan. 1
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s final rule implementing the Corporate Transparency Act’s beneficial ownership information reporting requirements will become effective on January 1, 2024. Small and medium businesses should prepare for compliance with the requirements.
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09/25/2023 -
Corporate Transparency Act: What Family Offices and LLCs Need to Know
With the effective date of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) approaching at the start of 2024, affected entities should be aware of and begin preparing for new requirements, including for beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting. In this LawFlash, we give an overview of the CTA and its specific impact on family offices, as well as its impact on individuals with interests in LLCs and other unregulated entities.
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09/20/2023 -
US Corporate Transparency Act: Impact on Private Funds and Venture Capital Funds
The final rule of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) implementing the Corporate Transparency Act’s (CTA’s) beneficial ownership requirements will become effective on January 1, 2024. The final rule may apply to some of the entities within a private fund structure unless such entities are restricted to come within applicable exemptions before reporting dates become effective.
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09/19/2023 -
How US Regulatory Changes Are Impacting the Way Sovereign Wealth Funds Invest
Several US regulatory agencies have proposed or enacted new rules in 2023 aimed at making the investment process more transparent. Many of those changes, including amendments to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), new beneficial owner requirements under the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN’s) Corporate Transparency Act, sweeping new HartScott-Rodino Act (HSR) rules by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations regarding the exemption for “qualified foreign pension funds” from taxation under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980 (FIRPTA), are directly affecting how sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are structuring their investments.
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08/24/2023 -
How Will the US Corporate Transparency Act Impact Sovereign Wealth Funds and Other Non-US Government Institutions?
The final rule of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network implementing the Corporate Transparency Act’s beneficial ownership requirements will become effective on January 1, 2024. Absent further guidance, sovereign wealth funds and similar non-US governmental institutions need to evaluate whether and to what extent the rule will apply to them, whether any exemptions are available, and whether operations can be restructured in order to take advantage of an available exemption.
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08/09/2023 -
New York Weighs Requiring Public Disclosure of LLC Ownership Information
The New York State Assembly recently passed the LLC Transparency Act (the LLC Act). If signed into law by New York Governor Kathy Hochul, the LLC Act would require limited liability companies (LLCs) formed or registered to do business in New York to disclose their beneficial owners to the New York State government, which would make this information available in a public database and potentially fundamentally change how businesses are organized in New York.
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01/31/2023 -
FinCEN Proposes Applications for FinCEN Identifier and BOI Reporting Pursuant to Final Rule
The US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) published notices on January 17 seeking public comment on two proposals: (1) the application document that individuals would use to obtain a FinCEN identifier (FinCEN Identifier Notice) and (2) the mechanism that FinCEN would use to collect beneficial ownership information (BOI) from reporting companies (BOI Collection Notice) (collectively, the Notices). The Notices are part of FinCEN’s further implementation of BOI reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act.
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01/11/2023 -
FinCEN Proposes New Rule on Beneficial Ownership Information Access and Safeguards for Corporate Transparency Act
The US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently proposed a new rule (the Proposed Rule) regarding beneficial ownership information access and safeguards pursuant to the Corporate Transparency Act.
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10/10/2022 -
Recent FinCEN UBO Regulations May Inform Compliance Requirements for Trade-Related Agencies, All Things FinReg
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the US Department of the Treasury issued a final rule on September 29, 2022, implementing the bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act’s beneficial ownership information reporting provisions. What’s noteworthy is that FinCEN used this as an opportunity to expand the definition of beneficial ownership to include any individual who exercises substantial control over the reporting company.
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October 2022 -
FinCEN Establishes Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements to Implement Corporate Transparency Act
The US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) published on September 30, in the Federal Register, a final rule establishing beneficial ownership information reporting requirements pursuant to the Corporate Transparency Act. The Final Rule requires most entities created or registered to do business in the United States to file beneficial ownership information reports with FinCEN that identify two categories of individuals: (1) the beneficial owners of the entity and (2) the company applicants of the entity.
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08/09/2021 -
New German Financial Law Expands Reporting Obligations for German Entities
The recent reform of the German transparency register affects almost all companies in Germany and greatly expands the reporting obligations for German entities.
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04/07/2021 -
FinCEN Releases Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on New Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirement
The US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on April 1 took the first step towards implementing the Corporate Transparency Act’s (CTA’s) beneficial ownership reporting requirements, issuing an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM).
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02/02/2021 -
Corporate Transparency Act: What Companies Need to Know
While the Corporate Transparency Act largely applies to foreign-owned shell companies, domestic companies should carefully read the definition of “reporting company” to ensure they fall within one of the exceptions to the definition. Reporting companies should be mindful of the various penalties associated with noncompliance or providing inaccurate or misleading information to FinCEN.
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12/16/2020 -
Corporate Transparency Act: How Will It Affect Financial Institutions?
The Corporate Transparency Act, found within the National Defense Authorization Act, directs the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to establish and maintain a national registry of beneficial ownership information.