7th September 2026
By Shubhii Verma
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed a major overhaul of transfer-agent regulations that could formally recognize blockchain technology as infrastructure for maintaining securities ownership records.
SEC Proposes Major Update to Transfer-Agent Rules
Announced on September 1 under file number S7-2026-30, the proposal represents the first comprehensive update to the SEC’s transfer-agent rules since many of the existing requirements were introduced in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Transfer agents play an important role in the U.S. securities market. They maintain official shareholder records, process ownership transfers, register securities issuances and handle corporate actions such as dividends, interest payments and redemptions.
Why Is the SEC Modernizing Transfer-Agent Regulations?
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said the proposed changes are designed to modernize the regulatory framework to reflect how securities markets operate today. The proposal specifically acknowledges the growing use of electronic communications and blockchain technology in securities offerings and share transfers.
Importantly, the SEC’s proposal is technology-neutral. While transfer agents would be permitted to use distributed ledger technology, they would not be required to adopt blockchain.
Blockchain Could Become an Official Ownership Record
The proposed framework could further clarify how blockchain-based systems can be used to record ownership of tokenized securities.
Tokenizing a stock does not automatically make the blockchain record the legal record of ownership. However, for issuer-sponsored tokenized securities, blockchain infrastructure can form part of the official master securityholder file maintained by an issuer or its registered transfer agent.
SEC staff has previously indicated that registered transfer agents can use blockchain as their official master securityholder file, or as one component of that record, as long as they continue meeting federal requirements for recordkeeping, reporting, examination and safeguarding.
This approach could allow blockchain networks to store information such as wallet addresses, securities balances, ownership percentages, purchase dates and transaction identifiers. Sensitive personal information, meanwhile, can remain in private databases rather than being placed directly on a public blockchain.
The new proposal would also establish updated requirements for managing these digital records. Transfer agents would need to ensure that records can be quickly produced for SEC examinations in human-readable and reasonably usable electronic formats.
They would also need systems capable of recovering information if records are damaged, altered or lost.
What the SEC Proposal Means for Tokenized Securities
Overall, the SEC’s proposal could provide a clearer regulatory foundation for blockchain-based securities infrastructure while maintaining investor-protection and recordkeeping standards. If adopted, the rules could help accelerate the use of distributed ledger technology in tokenized securities markets without requiring traditional financial institutions to abandon existing systems.
