Official records may shift to blockchain ledgers as the U.S. SEC plans to amend transfer agent rules

Odaily News: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week proposed a new rule amendment to revise transfer agent regulations, allowing electronic databases, including blockchain ledgers, to serve as the official record of securities ownership. If the proposal is approved, issuers and transfer agents may no longer need to maintain both on-chain token ledgers and off-chain shareholder registries simultaneously, and ownership records of tokenized securities could shift from two sets of records to a single record. Eli Cohen, Chief Legal Officer of Centrifuge, stated that the proposal could simplify the current "two-step" process into a "one-step" process, allowing the blockchain to serve as the primary securities document. Joris Delanoue, CEO of SEC-registered on-chain transfer agent Fairmint, stated that assets would still need to comply with ownership and transfer rules, and regulatory controls such as identity verification and transfer restrictions would still be built into the tokens; transfer agents would still need to handle administrative matters such as shareholder death, inheritance, and legal notices, with processing windows potentially shortened from 3 to 5 days to 1 day. The proposal's 60-day public comment period will end in early November.