SEC Proposes Blockchain-Friendly Overhaul of Transfer-Agent Rules

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is proposing a significant overhaul of its transfer-agent rules, which have remained largely unchanged since the late 1970s and early 1980s. The new proposal would allow blockchain or other distributed-ledger technology to serve as a company's master securityholder file, giving public blockchains a key role in determining who legally owns shares.

The current system relies on regulated transfer agents to maintain official shareholder records, but the SEC wants to bring tokenized securities deeper into this machinery. According to the proposal, one recordkeeping transfer agent would still retain exclusive control over the official shareholder file and remain responsible for its accuracy, security, and production to regulators.

Securitize, a registered transfer agent already using blockchain infrastructure for digital securities, has welcomed the proposal as a step in the right direction. The company has argued that public blockchains should be incorporated into securities recordkeeping while transfer agents continue overseeing the official ownership record.