MSCI Calls For Permanent Suspension Of Corporate Transparency Act

On Friday, Jan. 24, the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) and more than 60 other organizations wrote to U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance asking that their administration “take swift action to delay the implementation and enforcement of the CTA [Corporate Transparency Act] indefinitely, or at least until the legal cases challenging its validity have been fully resolved.”

As a reminder, the CTA requires every U.S. business entity with fewer than 20 employees or $5 million in revenues to file a report with the federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) identifying and providing information about the owners of the business. While the law is intended to crack down on money laundering, it is was written so broadly that its requirements will ensnare more than 32 million small businesses.

The letter came one day after the Supreme Court of the United States struck down an injunction against the CTA. Fortunately, FinCEN quickly stepped in and announced that filing requirements would remain on hold. so long as a second ruling remains in place. In its statement, FinCEN noted reporting companies “are not subject to liability if they fail to file,” but they also may “continue to voluntarily submit beneficial ownership information reports.”

Read more about the legal decisions surrounding the CTA at this link.

The letter to the president and vice president, which is available at this link, argued that “the CTA effectively treats law-abiding entrepreneurs and small business owners like criminals, keeping a register which FinCEN has indicated it intends to actively share with not just domestic law enforcement, but also foreign governments, law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges.”

Stay tuned to Connecting the Dots as court cases regarding this matter move forward and as the Trump administration and members of Congress work to delay or roll back CTA implementation.