SEC moves to update decades-old transfer agent rules for blockchain era
Regulation & Gov ·
The agency has proposed modernizing 1970s-era transfer agent regulations while planning a roundtable to examine round-the-clock U.S. securities trading.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has put forward a proposal to revise transfer agent rules that have remained largely unchanged since the 1970s, aiming to accommodate blockchain and digital asset infrastructure that did not exist when the original regulations were written, according to Coindesk. Transfer agents handle recordkeeping functions for securities, including tracking ownership and processing transfers, and the proposed changes are intended to let that infrastructure work with modern digital asset systems.
Alongside the rule proposal, the SEC is preparing a roundtable event focused on how U.S. securities trading might operate on a 24/7 basis, a shift from the traditional market hours that have governed U.S. equities trading for decades, per Coindesk. The pairing of the transfer agent proposal with the round-the-clock trading discussion signals that the agency is examining both the back-end recordkeeping layer and the front-end trading structure needed to support continuous markets.
The move has been corroborated separately, with The Block also reporting that the SEC is seeking to update the decades-old transfer agent framework specifically to account for blockchain and tokenization. Three distinct sources have covered the development, underscoring that the proposal is being treated as a notable step in the SEC's broader effort to build regulatory infrastructure around tokenized securities.
The proposal fits into a wider pattern of SEC activity touching tokenization and market structure, including its work on a formal taxonomy for crypto assets, its coordination with the CFTC on jurisdictional questions, and market-structure reforms such as changes to Regulation NMS that analysts have linked to tokenized U.S. stocks. Separately, the agency has also addressed broker-dealer registration requirements for crypto transaction interfaces and reduced the pattern day trader minimum after 25 years, reflecting a broader push to revisit legacy rules.
What remains unresolved is the specific text and timeline of the transfer agent rule changes, as well as the date and structure of the planned roundtable on 24/7 trading. It is also unclear how the transfer agent modernization will interact with pending proposals from other market participants, such as requests for no-action relief tied to recording tokenized securities on blockchain networks.