SEC Proposes First Major Transfer Agent Overhaul Since the 1980s, Writing Blockchain Into the Ownership Record

The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed on Tuesday to overhaul the rules governing registered transfer agents, the firms that maintain the official record of who owns a company’s shares, writing blockchain-based recordkeeping into that framework for the first time. It would be the first major overhaul of the rules since they were adopted in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the SEC said.

The proposal would modernize definitions to cover electronic and blockchain-based records and uncertificated securities while requiring written risk management policies, a separate bank account for issuer and securing holder funds, a business continuity plan, and aligning turnaround standards with the current settlement cycle. Comments are due 60 days after Federal Register publication.

Transfer agents are the choke point for tokenized equities. A token representing a real registered share needs someone to keep the authoritative ownership record, which is why Securitize and Plume hold transfer agent registration. Rules written for paper certificates pushed that work into workarounds. Letting a blockchain serve as the record removes a structural obstacle.

Jamie Selway, director of the Division of Trading and Markets, cast the rewrite as part of Chairman Paul Atkins‘ effort to modernize legacy regulation. Separately on Tuesday, the SEC released the agenda for a Sept. 17 roundtable on 24-hour trading, with panelists from NYSE, Nasdaq, DTCC, Citadel Securities, State Street, BlackRock, Robinhood and FINRA.

The current effort sits inside Project Crypto, Atkins’ push to move U.S. markets onchain. The SEC last week unveiled its Regulation Crypto Assets framework, which aims to set rules around how crypto projects can raise funds.

Related Listen: How Tokenized Stocks Could Undercut Interactive Brokers’ 77% Profit Margin

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