繼 2024 年底的一系列法律發展之後，美國公司根據《公司透明度法案》申報其受益所有人的新義務仍不確定。
美國財政部金融犯罪執法網絡（FinCEN）仍被禁止執行該法律。它已適當推遲報告截止日期，名義上推遲至2025年1月13日。美國財政部已請求美國最高法院（最高法院）暫停執行阻斷禁令。
法律進展於2024年12月3日開始展開，當時美國德克薩斯州東區地方法院批准了一項全國性的初步禁令，禁止FinCEN對美國任何實體執行該法案的受益所有權報告規則。具體而言，這意味著在2024年1月1日之前成立或註冊的公司（否則必須在2025年1月1日之前提交報告）可以決定不提交文件而不受懲罰。
司法部代表金融犯罪執法局對該禁令提出上訴，並另外尋求在上訴期間暫緩執行禁令。 2024年12月23日，美國第五巡迴上訴法院批准暫緩執行德州地方法院的初步禁令，等待FinCEN正在進行的上訴的結果。這恢復了所有屬於該法案範圍內的公司的 1 月 1 日的提交截止日期，並且認識到報告公司可能需要更多時間來遵守報告要求，FinCEN 立即延長了截止日期。
然而，12月26日，第五巡迴上訴法院的另一個小組撤銷了暫停德州禁令的命令。此舉再次取消了公司在1月1日之前提交受益所有權報告的要求。第五巡迴法院發布了上訴的快速簡報時間表，將 2025年 3月25日定為第一次口頭辯論的日期。
2024年12月31日，司法部代表FinCEN向最高法院提交了一份緊急申請，尋求在等待上訴期間進一步暫緩執行德州的禁令。
最高法院現已命令訴訟的其他各方在2025年1月10日之前提交答复。如果批准暫緩令並恢復受益所有權報告要求，財政部可能會基於過去類似的延期，將申報截止日期延長至 1 月底。
同時，各公司正在等待金融犯罪執法局發布進一步指導或推翻法院命令，然後再提交報告。
US beneficial reporting duty blocked for now, but Supreme Court intervention imminent
The new obligation on US companies to declare their beneficial owners under the Corporate Transparency Act remains uncertain, following a series of legal developments at the end of 2024.
The US Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is still enjoined from enforcing the law. It has duly deferred the reporting deadline, nominally until 13 January 2025. In practice, this will likely be until the end of January at the earliest. The treasury has asked the US Supreme Court (the Supreme Court) to stay the blocking injunction.
The legal developments started to unfold on 3 December 2024, when the US Eastern Texas District Court granted a nationwide preliminary injunction preventing FinCEN from enforcing the Act’s beneficial ownership reporting rules against any entity in the US. In particular, this meant that companies created or registered before 1 January 2024, which would otherwise have been required to report by 1 January 2025, could decide not to submit their filings with impunity.
The Department of Justice appealed the injunction on behalf of FinCEN and separately sought a stay of the injunction pending that appeal. On 23 December 2024, the US Fifth Circuit Appeal Court granted a stay of the Texas district court's preliminary injunction pending the outcome of FinCEN's ongoing appeal. This reinstated the 1 January filing deadline for all companies within scope of the Act and, recognising that reporting companies may need additional time to comply with the reporting requirements, FinCEN immediately extended the deadlines.
However, on 26 December, a different panel of the Fifth Circuit Appeal Court vacated the order staying the Texas injunction. This once again canceled the requirement on companies to file beneficial ownership reports by 1 January. The Fifth Circuit issued an expedited briefing schedule for the appeal, setting 25 March 2025 as the date for the first oral arguments.
On 31 December 2024, the justice department, on behalf of FinCEN, filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court, seeking a further stay of the Texas injunction pending the ongoing appeal.
The Supreme Court has now ordered the other parties to the litigation to submit their response by 10 January 2025. Its decision on the stay could come as early as the week beginning 13 January 2025. If the stay is granted and beneficial ownership reporting requirements are reinstated, the treasury may only extend filing deadlines until late January, based on similar extensions in the past.
Meanwhile, companies are waiting to file their reports until further guidance is issued by FinCEN or the court order is overturned.
Sources:
• FinCEN
• STEP International News 19 December 2024: Events move quickly in legal battle over US Corporate Transparency Act reporting deadline
• FincenFetch newsletter
• Maples Group
• Hogan Lovells