On October 27, 2026, Attorney General Anthony G. Brown joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in a lawsuit to challenge a new regulation from the Trump administration that exempts nearly all businesses from the Corporate Transparency Act. The act requires businesses to disclose their ownership information to help law enforcement combat financial crimes. The lawsuit claims that the regulation violates multiple federal laws and seeks to maintain the ownership database for law enforcement use.

Press Release: Office of the Attorney General of Maryland

Published October 27, 2026. Reproduced in full from the Office of the Attorney General of Maryland.

Attorney General Brown Seeks to Protect Corporate Transparency Act Against Trump Administration Rollback

BALTIMORE, MD, Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from gutting a law that helps police and prosecutors catch money launderers, fraudsters, and tax evaders.

The law, the Corporate Transparency Act, requires businesses to tell the federal government who actually owns and controls them. That matters because criminals often hide their money in shell companies, businesses that exist on paper but don’t do much of anything, so their names never show up. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCEN, may disclose the information it collects to state and local law enforcement for use in civil or criminal investigations. Under a new regulation, however, FinCEN has exempted approximately 99.9% of businesses from the law, making it nearly useless.

“The Corporate Transparency Act provides a key resource for investigators to uncover financial crimes like money laundering, tax fraud, and bribery,” said Attorney General Brown. “By exempting nearly all businesses from complying with this law, the Trump Administration is letting wrongdoers hide behind shell companies and escape accountability.”

Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act with bipartisan support in 2021. It created a Treasury database of business owners that law enforcement can use to trace dirty money, track down stolen assets, and uncover bribes and political payoffs.

In August 2026, the Trump administration finalized a rule exempting nearly every business from reporting. FinCEN also announced it would delete the ownership information already in the database, records that may include evidence of unsolved crimes. The states argue that would break multiple federal laws.

The lawsuit says FinCEN:

· Violated the Corporate Transparency Act and Administrative Procedure Act

· Skipped required legal steps before changing the rule

· Acted arbitrarily and without a reasonable explanation

· Failed to properly consult the Secretary of Homeland Security and the U.S. Attorney General before exempting nearly all businesses

The states seek a court order throwing out FinCEN’s rule and requiring the agency to keep collecting and maintaining the ownership database for law enforcement.

The case, State of Oregon v. Bessent, is being filed today in U.S. District Court in Eugene.

Joining Attorney General Brown are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.