On Dec. 26, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals effectively reinstated the nationwide preliminary injunction against the Corporate Transparency Act. After the Fifth Circuit’s emergency “motions panel” lifted the injunction on Dec. 23, a different group of judges charged with making a decision on the substantive appeal – the “merits panel” – reversed course and reinstated the injunction pending their decision on the merits.
The appeal remains expedited. The parties will file a series of legal briefs in February 2025, followed by oral argument on March 25. It is uncertain how quickly a decision will be rendered after oral argument. A decision might be rendered within a few weeks or months after oral argument. Given the status of the appeal, it remains to be seen whether reporting companies will be permanently relieved.
At the time of this update on Dec. 27, FinCEN had not yet commented on the Dec. 26 order.
The injunction does not prohibit companies from filing BOI reports and the FinCEN website is still accepting filings. In some circumstances, a reporting entity may choose to complete and file its BOI reports to avoid ongoing uncertainty.
