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The U.S. Supreme Court granted the Financial Crime Enforcement Network’s request for an emergency motion to stay the nationwide injunction of the Corporate Transparency Act, or CTA, imposed last month by a federal judge in the Eastern District of Texas.

Approval of the stay comes 10 days after the Jan. 13 deadline for most legal entities formed or registered in the U.S. to submit the names, birthdates, addresses and other personal details of anyone who beneficially owns at least 25 percent of their shares to FinCEN, or, alternatively, of anyone who wields significant control over their day-to-day operations.

The stay will remain in effect at least until March, when the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will rule on the nationwide injunction imposed in Texas at the request of six plaintiffs, including firearms dealer Texas Top Cop Shop Inc., who argued that the CTA violates the Constitution.

On Dec. 23, a three-judge motions panel of the 5th Circuit issued an expedited stay permitting FinCEN to temporarily enforce the CTA prior to a final ruling on the injunction, only for a merits panel to renew the injunction three days later.

“This Court should stay the district court’s injunction,” FinCEN argued in a 150-page appeal filed Dec. 31. “The Act’s reporting requirements are important to the government in preventing, detecting, and prosecuting crimes such as money laundering, tax fraud and the financing of terrorism.”