Keeping Your Business Out of Jail: An Attorney’s Guide to CTA Compliance

Destination Business Freedom

Grant Teeple is the Founder and Senior Partner of Teeple Hall, LLP, a full-service commercial law firm. He oversees the firm’s Litigation Group and participates in the Corporate & Transactional Group’s Mergers & Acquisitions Practice Area. Before founding Teeple Hall in 1992, Grant worked as a civil litigation defense attorney and has litigated complex, multi-jurisdictional matters in business litigation, intellectual property disputes, fraud cases, real property disputes, and entitlement matters. He has also handled numerous acquisitions and company sales in sell-side and buy-side transactions exceeding $100 million.

In this episode…

As business owners engage in M&A transactions, a crucial piece of legislation threatens steep fines and — in extreme cases — jail time for those who fail to comply. What new federal regulations must businesses navigate during the M&A process?

After the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), requiring businesses to disclose information about their owners and controllers to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The law applies to any LLC or corporation and includes operators like CPAs, lawyers, and bankers. If you fail to comply or provide FinCEN with inaccurate or outdated information, you may be charged $500 for each day of non-compliance. Corporate M&A and compliance expert Grant Teeple recommends hiring an attorney to help you update ownership information regularly, maintaining compliance while ensuring privacy through attorney-client privilege.

In this episode of Destination Business Freedom, Pat Mancuso welcomes Grant Teeple, the Founder and Senior Partner of Teeple Hall, LLP, to discuss compliance regulations for M&A transactions. Grant also talks about common mistakes buyers and sellers make during the M&A process, how to involve an attorney in business sales, and how to navigate due diligence.