A decision in the US on whether or not to allow UK alternative business structures to operate across the Atlantic is unlikely to be made until well after 2012, the new American Bar Association (ABA) president Stephen Zack told the Gazette in an interview this week.

Zack said he anticipates that existing prohibitions – if they are removed at all – will remain in place until well after the ABA completes its study of ABSs, or until US courts rule on the legality of the new structures. He suggested that the issue might reach the US Supreme Court (pictured).

The long timeframe means that City and national firms with a US presence which are seeking to convert to ABSs may see their plans delayed further. In the UK, ABSs will be able to begin operations from 6 October 2011.

‘This whole issue will be taken in small bites,’ Zack said. ‘There is no proposal to have ABSs similar to those in the UK. I have spoken to your bar leaders and public officials, and I think a lot of them have serious questions as to how it’s going to succeed.’

The ABA has previously said that it will not make any decision on whether to permit ABSs until its ethics commission 20/20 reports in 2012 .

But Zack suggested that the ABA house of delegates would not recommend any amendments to state legislatures until well after the report’s publication – if at all.

Zack said that, if the ABA does decide to embrace ABSs, then the association would suggest model rules to state legislatures, which would then decide whether or not to adopt the rules as law.