Overview
- The World Federation of Exchanges, whose members include Nasdaq, Cboe, CME Group and Deutsche Boerse, urged the SEC in a Nov. 21 letter to avoid broad exemptive relief for tokenized stocks.
- The SEC published the letter and declined to comment, as it weighs whether to permit controlled pilots rather than sweeping waivers.
- Exchanges warn many tokenized stock products do not provide legal ownership, voting rights or clear redress and have traded at divergent prices overseas.
- SEC Chair Paul Atkins has outlined an “innovation exemption” and potential sandbox pilots, but no final rules have been set.
- Crypto firms looking to sell tokens linked to listed equities in the U.S. would need no-action letters or exemptions, prompting calls from exchanges for time-limited, supervised testing and a level competitive field.