New Jersey joins multistate lawsuit challenging Trump administration’s corporate ownership reporting rule
TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport has joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in a federal lawsuit challenging a Trump administration rule that exempts nearly all businesses from reporting their ownership information to the federal government.
The lawsuit seeks to preserve the Corporate Transparency Act, a federal law designed to help law enforcement investigate money laundering, fraud, tax evasion and other financial crimes by requiring companies to disclose who owns and controls them.
“This administration continues to do everything it can to unleash corruption, including unilaterally voiding a bipartisan law that would make it harder for criminals to hide behind anonymous shell companies,” said Attorney General Davenport. “We are suing to keep the law in place, so that law enforcement will have every tool available to hold wrongdoers to account.”
Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act with bipartisan support in 2021, establishing a federal database of beneficial ownership information maintained by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCEN.
The database was intended to help investigators identify individuals who use shell companies to conceal their involvement in financial crimes, trace illicit funds, recover stolen assets and investigate bribery and corruption.
According to the attorney general’s office, the Trump administration issued a rule in August 2026 exempting approximately 99.9% of businesses from the law’s reporting requirements. FinCEN subsequently announced plans to delete ownership information already collected, which the states argue could include evidence relevant to unresolved criminal investigations.
The coalition contends that the administration’s actions effectively undermine the law’s purpose and exceed the Treasury Department’s legal authority.
In their complaint, the states allege that FinCEN violated the Corporate Transparency Act, failed to follow required procedures before changing the reporting rules and acted arbitrarily without providing a reasonable explanation for its decision.
The lawsuit asks the court to invalidate the rule and require FinCEN to continue collecting and maintaining beneficial ownership information for use by law enforcement.
The case, State of Oregon v. Bessent, was filed in U.S. District Court in Eugene, Oregon, and is led by Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
In addition to New Jersey, the coalition includes the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.
The lawsuit represents the states’ allegations, and the court has not ruled on the merits of their claims.
