An Alabama federal district judge has dealt a setback to the Biden administration's efforts to enhance corporate transparency. The judge ruled that the Treasury Department cannot mandate small business owners to disclose information about their owners and beneficiaries.
The ruling, issued by U.S. District Judge Liles C. Burke, declared the Corporate Transparency Act, a key U.S. anti-money laundering law passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021, as unconstitutional. The judge argued that Congress had overstepped its authority in enacting the law, rendering the subsequent rulemaking invalid.
