Reported by FACT Coalition

(Excerpt shared below. To read full report, go to: https://thefactcoalition.org/court-upholds-landmark-anti-money-laundering-law/)

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit reversed a lower court decision in NSBU v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, finding in favor of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). This landmark anti-money laundering law requires certain U.S. entities to provide basic identifying information to the Treasury Department about their true, or “beneficial”, owners. 

“The Court’s decision confirms what Congress understood and intended when it originally passed this legislation: that anonymous companies are drivers of fraud, drug trafficking, and the threats posed by terrorists and transnational criminal organizations,” said Erica Hanichak, deputy director of the FACT Coalition. “Congress already gave our country’s law enforcement and national security officials the tools they need to address money laundering through shell and front companies. It’s long past time that we empower them to start using these tools to protect our communities.” 

During the Court’s deliberation, several amici curiae (“friends of the court”) – including bipartisan Members of Congress, national security and anti-corruption experts, and tax law experts – filed briefs in support of the Government’s position that the CTA was constitutional. FACT and its partners also filed an amicus brief in the lower court case reversed by the 11th Circuit. The Court further cited the support of law enforcement, national security experts, and industry associations as influential in informing Congress’ findings that the abuse of anonymous U.S. shell companies impacts interstate commerce.