Контекст здесь:

"It is further suggested that the specific term “beneficial ownership” had a number of different purposes which should be distinguished and which only in one brief and now discontinued usage dealt with the use of interposed entities such as holding companies."

У меня увы не получается ничего путного. Да и "in one brief and now" вызывает сомнения. Перевожу как "здесь и сейчас", но чувствую, что мысль автора не улавливаю.

Заранее всем спасибо!

only in one brief and now discontinued usage = in only one usage, which { was brief } and { is now discontinued }