Business group sues over new corporate ownership database

By FATIMA HUSSEIN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A small business lobbying group has filed suit to block the Treasury Department’s upcoming requirement that tens of millions of small businesses register with the government as part of an effort to prevent the criminal abuse of anonymous shell companies. The National Small Business Association argues that the new reporting rule is unduly burdensome on small firms, violates privacy and free speech protections and infringes on states’ powers to govern businesses. The legal challenge points to the friction between maintaining privacy rights and the government’s effort to uncover sources of criminal activity, especially as the U.S. attempts to sanction Russian oligarchs and wealthy friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin.