Accounting

Key wealth management legal cases to watch in 2025

Published

2 years ago

January 13, 2025

This year may not bring as many consequential Supreme Court decisions as the last one for financial advisors, but there are several pending lawsuits with big potential industry implications.

Ongoing uncertainty around the reporting of “beneficial ownership information” under the Corporate Transparency Act, a Supreme Court case testing the power of the IRS to collect pre-bankruptcy tax payments and possible new challenges to the agency’s rules after the demise last year of the so-called Chevron doctrine could each affect advisors and their clients, according to Leila Carney, a member in the Tax Disputes & Tax Litigation Group at the Washington, D.C., office of Caplin & Drysdale. In addition, the Securities and Exchange Commission and FINRA are facing their own legal confrontations over enforcement capabilities.

“What we’ve seen is, 2024 cases have chipped away at agency power, lending momentum to private litigants,” Carney said in an interview last month shortly after the high court heard arguments in the case involving creditors’ ability to claw back tax payments prior to bankruptcy, U.S. v. Miller. “This case will, I think, be a weather balloon to see whether we can expect continued weakening of agencies.”

In the wake of one of the Supreme Court rulings last year that gave every SEC defendant the right to a jury trial rather than an administrative law judge, the agency is contending with cases scrutinizing its authority to attach “follow-on” industry bans and FINRA’s process for expelling brokerages from its membership.

The victories by President-elect Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress also likely delivered the knockout blow to the Labor Department’s new retirement advice rule that was already in a stay blocking its implementation during an industry lawsuit. The Trump administration could drop Labor’s appeal of the stay or simply abide by any possible court decisions vacating the new rule.

The path ahead for another new law requiring companies to disclose their ownership to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network looks much more murky. Federal judges have halted the Corporate Transparency Act under multiple lawsuits criticizing the law as overly broad under the Constitution, but the Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to lift the injunction. For the moment, the law has yet to go into effect.

“The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) plays a vital role in protecting the U.S. and international financial systems, as well as people across the country, from illicit finance threats like terrorist financing, drug trafficking and money laundering. The CTA levels the playing field for tens of millions of law-abiding small businesses across the United States and makes it harder for bad actors to exploit loopholes in order to gain an unfair advantage,” according to a website maintained by the agency with the latest updates on the status of the law.

“The government continues to believe — consistent with the orders issued by the U.S. District Courts for the District of Oregon and the Eastern District of Virginia — that the CTA is constitutional and will continue defending the law as necessary,” the agency said.

But the constitutional questions about whether the law extends beyond the federal government’s legally mandated oversight of interstate commerce could one day reach the high court, according to Carney.

“Most Americans are hesitant to share information that they would otherwise expect to keep private, just as a matter of good security practices,” she said. “The constitutional argument is that, because it’s requiring a report of entity formation, it’s not within the scope of regulating business because an entity may be formed and may not be doing any business.”

Another unit of the Treasury, the IRS, is fighting a legal case filed by 3M disputing an agency rule about companies’ allocations of corporate income. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit heard arguments in the case this past fall.

It and another case before the Tax Court filed by Abbott Laboratories represent the next struggles over a substitute framework for the Chevron deference taken away from agency rulemaking as part of last year’s decision in the Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo case, tax lawyers Lauren Ann Ross and Adam Spiegel of Covington & Burling wrote in Bloomberg Law. Each of the cases are seeking to overturn earlier decisions that revolved around the Chevron deference.

“Two lines of inquiry are likely to emerge: First, does the regulation embody a policy choice or factual determination? If so, courts also are likely to defer to the agency’s regulation as long as it reflects reasoned decision-making,” Ross and Spiegel wrote. “Otherwise, if the regulation is interpreting the statute, courts may move to a second question: Does the Treasury have discretionary authority to interpret the statute through regulations? If so, the agency’s interpretation may still be entitled to deference. If not, the court would interpret the statute without deference to the regulation and could hold the regulation invalid.”

In light of Chevron’s demise, Congress could “easily fill the gap with legislation” that addresses the possible level of deference for agency rulemaking, Carney said. The incoming Trump administration may single out certain rules for non-enforcement as well, by “targeting regulations that are likely to be challenged” after the Loper Bright case, she said.

Trump’s administration and its allies in Congress are likely to pull back IRS enforcement funding that had previously ramped up the agency’s scrutiny of what it described as tax-dodging efforts by the wealthy. However, another area of enforcement called the “economic substance doctrine” that restricts tax benefits for transactions that do not present any legitimate business or economic purpose bears close watching by advisors and tax professionals too, according to Carney. A district court’s decision siding with the IRS in a case brought by a company called Liberty Global put tax attorneys on alert about the impact to basic strategies deployed by clients for savings. The case is currently awaiting a ruling in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“The IRS has been making it a priority to enforce the economic substance doctrine recently,” she said. “The litigation climate may make that harder.”

Accounting

Continuous Auditing Transforms Corporate ERPs

Published

5 days ago

July 21, 2026

Business Finance News

continuous auditing transforms corporate erps

As corporate accounting departments cross the threshold into late July 2026, the adoption of continuous, automated auditing systems has reached a definitive turning point. Driven by advances in artificial intelligence and deep integration with modern Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platforms, leading finance organizations are moving away from traditional, periodic post-hoc audits in favor of real-time, 100% transactional verification. This technological transition is redefining internal control environments, reducing compliance costs, and eliminating the structural delays inherent in legacy quarterly closing processes.

Unlike traditional auditing frameworks that rely on statistical sampling—a process that inevitably leaves operational blind spots—continuous auditing software monitors operational data feeds continuously. Every purchase order, electronic invoice, payroll disbursement, and cross-border wire transfer is automatically cross-referenced against established corporate governance parameters, regulatory tax schedules, and anti-fraud algorithms in real time. Anomalies or unauthorized ledger entries are flagged instantly, allowing internal audit teams to investigate and remediate compliance gaps immediately rather than months after the close of a financial period.

The implications for executive financial management are far-reaching. By embedding continuous verification directly into daily transaction workflows, chief financial officers gain uninterrupted visibility into the organization’s true financial standing. Real-time balance sheet auditing eliminates the severe operational bottlenecks associated with month-end and quarter-end financial reconciliations, freeing accounting professionals to focus on strategic financial modeling, tax planning, and capital allocation rather than manual data entry and spreadsheet consolidation.

However, implementing continuous auditing requires accounting leadership to invest heavily in data governance and technical upskilling. Internal audit teams must evolve from manual ledger reviewers into system architects capable of auditing complex algorithms and validating automated data pipelines. Accounting firms and corporate controllers that master continuous auditing will establish a resilient compliance framework capable of meeting stringent international regulatory standards with total transparency.

Accounting

U.S. Imposes New 50% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Under Rare Legal Provision

Published

6 days ago

July 20, 2026

Business Finance News

U.S. Imposes New 50% Tariffs on Canadian Imports Under Rare Legal Provision

WASHINGTON — In a major escalation of cross-border trade friction, U.S. President Donald Trump has signed executive orders imposing new 50% tariffs on a wide selection of Canadian exports, citing discriminatory practices by Ottawa targeting American auto, dairy, and beverage industries.

The new duties, announced Monday, will take effect in 30 days. They target a broad spectrum of consumer and industrial goods—ranging from wine, liquor, and milk products to commercial cement, furniture, clothing, and hockey equipment.

Untested Legal Mechanism

To enact the sweeping measures, the administration invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930—a rarely used legal provision allowing the executive branch to levy additional tariffs of up to 50% on foreign nations deemed to discriminate against U.S. commerce.

White House officials noted that Section 338 addresses trade discrimination rather than national security or economic emergencies. The move comes months after prior global emergency tariffs faced legal challenges in domestic courts, signaling Washington’s pivot toward alternate statutory authorities to maintain import duties.

Senior administration officials briefed reporters that the measure directly responds to Canadian provincial bans on U.S. alcohol, restrictions on American vehicle exports, and import quota disparities affecting U.S. dairy and cheese producers relative to third-party trading partners.

“While the administration continues to secure reciprocal trade agreements globally, Canada retaliated against efforts to protect domestic industry,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer stated.

USMCA Impact and Carve-Outs

Significantly, the newly ordered 50% duties will apply to designated items even if they otherwise comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

However, the administration confirmed key targeted exemptions:

Energy products (including oil and natural gas)
Potash and critical minerals
Fish and seafood
Goods already governed by sector-specific duties (such as existing steel and aluminum tariffs)

Administration representatives emphasized that the tariffs do not stem from recent disputes concerning drifting Canadian wildfire smoke, noting that policy options regarding environmental spillover remain under separate review.

Canadian Response and Market Reaction

Following the White House announcement, the Canadian dollar experienced a sharp decline against the U.S. dollar, falling approximately 0.4% during evening trading.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a statement emphasizing that Canada’s earlier counter-duties had merely matched previous U.S. trade actions. “Canada stands ready to engage intensively to address outstanding issues with the U.S. to the mutual benefit of our citizens,” Carney stated, pointing to detailed proposals Ottawa submitted to modernize the USMCA framework.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford took a firmer stance, urging a “dollar-for-dollar” reciprocal response if the measures go into effect on August 19.

With a 30-day implementation window before the duties officially lock in, industry associations and trade groups on both sides of the border are calling for urgent bilateral negotiations to avert further supply chain disruption across North America.

Accounting

Automated Continuous Auditing: Transforming Compliance and Real-Time Financial Oversight

Published

6 days ago

July 20, 2026

Business Finance News

Transforming Compliance and Real-Time Financial Oversight

The traditional accounting paradigm—defined by periodic monthly closures and post-hoc annual audits—is rapidly giving way to continuous, automated financial oversight. As of July 2026, forward-thinking accounting practices and multinational corporate finance departments are leveraging continuous auditing systems powered by advanced machine learning models. These systems monitor operational transactions in real time, shifting audit methodologies from sample-based post-analysis to absolute, 100% transaction-level verification.

The operational advantages of continuous auditing are transformative. Standard auditing procedures historically relied on statistical sampling, which, despite rigorous methodology, inherently left gaps where anomalies or fraudulent transactions could go undetected for months. Modern continuous auditing platforms integrate directly with enterprise resource planning (ERP) databases, instantly cross-referencing purchase orders, invoices, bank feeds, and tax records. Any deviation from established control parameters or unusual transaction behavior triggers immediate flags for internal audit teams, dramatically reducing detection lag from quarters to seconds.

Beyond fraud prevention, continuous auditing fundamentally alters internal reporting and decision-making. Executive leadership no longer has to wait weeks after the close of a quarter to evaluate precise financial standing; real-time verified ledger data provides an uninterrupted view of operating margins, tax liabilities, and cash flow dynamics. This real-time visibility enables corporate controllers to adjust capital allocation strategies dynamically, mitigating liquidity constraints and capitalizing on emerging commercial opportunities far more efficiently than competitors bound to legacy reporting cycles.

However, implementing continuous auditing requires accounting professionals to acquire new analytical capabilities. The role of the auditor is evolving from manual data reconciliation toward system validation, algorithmic model governance, and strategic risk interpretation. Accounting firms and corporate finance departments must invest in continuous technical education, ensuring that audit staff possess the data engineering skills necessary to design, maintain, and evaluate complex automated compliance systems.