The Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed its plan for an anticipated exemption that would clarify the agency's stance on tokenized assets, following concerns over third-party issuers, Bloomberg Law reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The SEC's staff was slated to release language for an innovation exemption, and a draft of the plan had been created and reviewed, according to the people familiar who spoke with Bloomberg Law.
Over the past few days, the SEC staff has held discussions with stock exchange officials and market participants and is weighing their feedback. A particular sticking point has been "so-called third-party tokens, which would be issued without the backing or consent of the public companies involved," Bloomberg reported.
A concern among several former regulators is guaranteeing that tokenized assets carry the same rights as regulated securities, such as dividends and voting rights. Former regulators have said it is unclear how firms can fulfill those obligations since tokens can change hands through blockchain networks, Bloomberg reported.
Several crypto-native firms like Securitize, Ondo and Superstate have developed tokenization infrastructure with integrated SEC-registered transfer agent functions that maintain official shareholder records.
