United States: FinTech

The SEC proposes new custody rules for crypto assets held by investment advisers and funds, allowing self-custody under strict conditions. Meanwhile, regulatory developments continue with new FAQs on crypto asset classification, state certification procedures under the GENIUS Act, and state-level actions including Illinois's digital asset tax and California's meme coin ban.

The SEC has issued a groundbreaking Innovation Exemption allowing tokenized securities venues to facilitate trading of tokenized NMS stocks using automated market makers and liquidity pools. This temporary five-year exemption from exchange and dealer registration requirements establishes conditions for permissioned blockchain-based trading while granting public companies a 30-day window to object to third-party tokenization of their securities.

The October edition of The Desk covers critical developments in derivatives regulation, including the approaching Treasury clearing compliance deadline, CFTC enforcement actions totaling over $150 million in penalties, and new guidance on tokenized assets and prediction markets. The newsletter examines how regulatory agencies are adapting to digital innovation while maintaining market integrity through enhanced whistleblower programs and stricter oversight of commodity pool operators.

The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) has taken its long-running opposition to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) chartering of cryptocurrency companies to the courts.

The SEC has issued temporary exemptive relief allowing qualifying tokenized securities venues to facilitate onchain trading of NMS stocks through automated market makers and liquidity pools, while simultaneously exempting certain liquidity providers from dealer registration requirements. These five-year exemptions, effective through September 2031, establish a framework with specific conditions addressing transparency, volume limits, issuer objection rights, and operational safeguards as the agency consider

The SEC has issued a groundbreaking "innovation exemption" allowing tokenized securities to trade through automated market makers and liquidity pools on permissioned venues without traditional exchange registration. This temporary five-year relief creates a novel regulatory framework that substitutes disclosure requirements for certain exchange rules, while imposing strict conditions on trading volume, transparency, and issuer consent.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a five-year exemption order enabling the permissioned trading of tokenized securities through automated market makers and liquidity pools. This temporary relief establishes conditional exemptions from exchange and dealer registration requirements while imposing operational limits, transparency obligations, and recordkeeping conditions on tokenized securities venues and liquidity providers.

Treasury's proposed rule on payment stablecoins establishes critical territorial boundaries for U.S. issuance and foreign token operations. Organizations must understand certification requirements, compliance frameworks, and jurisdictional triggers before entering the regulated stablecoin market.

The U.S. Senate's failed cloture vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act has prompted a flurry of regulatory activity from federal agencies seeking to establish frameworks for cryptocurrency markets. In response, the SEC issued groundbreaking exemptions for tokenized securities trading, the CFTC extended relief to crypto wallet providers, and Congress advanced new tax legislation for digital assets.