Legal Brief: The CTA Roller Coaster Barrels Onward
May 20, 2025
Security Business Magazine
Types : Bylined Articles
Between administration changes, court appeals, and Congressional oversight, the Corporate Transparency Act remains in limbo
My wife and kids like roller coasters. I do not. Up and down and all around? No thanks. Sometimes, the law does that to us too. Laws are proposed, debated, passed, enjoined, repealed or changed all the time. Up and down and all around. So it is with the roller coaster ride that is the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).
In my November 2024 column, I wrote about the CTA – a federal statute intended to combat money laundering, tax evasion, and other illicit financial activities by increasing transparency in corporate ownership. These are noble goals – which, as a former military and federal prosecutor, I know are important to combat white collar crime. However, in our democracy, we hold regular elections and those elections often result in policy changes – even on existing laws (albeit very new) like the CTA.
Administration Changes Creates Chaos
Some regard the CTA as too onerous and an example of hyper-regulation; others regard the risk of money laundering and organized crime as too high to do nothing. Regardless, what was originally a bipartisan effort has now become a back-and-forth battle in the courts and at the U.S. Treasury Department.