FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Danna Hayes, Danna.hayes@maine.gov
AUGUSTA – Attorney Aaron M. Frey has joined a coalition of 20 states and the District of Columbia in filing a lawsuit to stop the Trump Administration from gutting the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) which helps police and prosecutors catch money launderers, fraudsters, and tax cheats.
“It is inexplicable that the Trump Administration wants to change the rules to make it harder to catch and prosecute white collar crime,” said Attorney General Frey. “The bipartisan law the Administration is trying to dismantle is an effective mechanism for law enforcement to uncover illegal financial schemes and hold wrongdoers accountable. The American people deserve a system where people and corporations are accountable to the law.”
The CTA is a bi-partisan, landmark anti-money laundering statute passed in 2021 that requires corporations, LLCs, and similar entities to report identifying information about their beneficial owners to the United States Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in order to stop shell companies from hiding their financial transactions from law enforcement. The law created a Treasury database of business owners to enable law enforcement to trace dirty money, track down stolen assets, and uncover bribes and political payoffs.
On March 26, 2025, FinCEN issued a rule which exempted 99.9% of businesses from the law’s reporting requirements, making it nearly useless. Then, on August 14, 2026, FinCEN issued a final rule making these exemptions permanent. Finally, when announcing the final rule, FinCEN committed to executing a data purge and deleting all information previously reported by U.S. companies and individuals that are no longer required to report by February 10, 2027.
The states allege violations of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the Separation of Powers, and Take Care Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The states seek a court order that vacates FinCEN’s new rule and declares it unlawful. Furthermore, the Complaint seeks a court order enjoining FinCEN from implementing or effectuating the data purge.
Joining Attorney General Frey in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.