SEC Proposes Blockchain-Ledger Framework for Official Securities Ownership Records

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed replacing outdated transfer agent rules with a framework that recognizes blockchain ledgers as official securities ownership records. This change would update rules created before blockchain-based securities entered US capital markets.

Under the current system, an on-chain token does not serve as the final legal record of ownership, and transfer agents and issuers maintain separate shareholder registers outside the blockchain. The SEC's proposal would allow a qualifying blockchain ledger to become the main ownership record, rather than a parallel database.

Eli Cohen, chief legal officer at Centrifuge, said that this plan could reduce the existing 'two-step' model to a 'one-step' process. In his assessment, the blockchain itself could serve as the master securityholder file once the rules permit it.