US Makes Headway in Appeal Defending Corporate Transparency Act

At least one panel member at the Eleventh Circuit appeared skeptical on Friday of a small business association’s facial challenge to an anti-money laundering law the group says exceeds Congress’s constitutional authority to regulate commercial activity.

An Alabama federal judge earlier this year deemed the Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutional because its disclosure requirements for businesses triggered upon an entity’s incorporation, not when it started engaging in commerce, prompting the US government to appeal.

The government says the act’s goal is to crack down on money laundering and tax evasion done using anonymous shell companies, while National Small Business United ...