The US Supreme Court issued a temporary nationwide stay Thursday that revives the Corporate Transparency Act, which seeks to control money laundering by requiring small businesses to register with the United States Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

The Act prevents money laundering by requiring corporate entities to report their beneficial ownership which also regulates anonymous and illicit business ownership.  The Treasury will exempt any entity for which financial reporting would not be “highly useful” due to their level of economic, or commercial, activity.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of the government because it only needs a “rational basis” that the activity “substantially affects interstate commerce,” and that regulating the registration of businesses to prevent financial crimes was within its Commerce Power.

Additionally, the government proved that a “last-minute injunction of a statute proposed passed by the people’s representatives” inflicted irreparable harm. Finally, the government must prove that “the balance of equity weighs in favor of granting the stay.” Here, the harm imposed by the Act is minimal because a standard company would spend approximately 90 minutes to complete the Act’s report. This filing process, when balanced against the protection against financial crimes and safeguarding national security, the balance weighs in favor of a stay.

Justice Jackson dissented in the Supreme Court’s stay, stating that “the Government deferred implementation on its own accord—setting an enforcement date of nearly four years after the law was enacted by Congress.”

The US Supreme Court’s stay will remain active pending a writ of certiorari to the Court and an appeal to the Fifth Circuit.