SEC Must Not Let Crypto Companies 'Bypass' Rules, Stock Exchanges Say

The Securities and Exchange Commission's possible plan to grant crypto companies relief from regulation to sell 'tokenised' stocks risks harming investors, a group of stock exchanges said in a letter to the U.S. regulator this week. From a report: Several crypto companies plan to sell crypto tokens linked to listed equities to retail investors who want to get exposure to stocks without owning them directly. But to sell the products in the U.S., crypto companies which are not registered as broker-dealers would need the SEC to give them a no-action letter or an exemption.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins has said the agency is working on crafting an 'innovation exemption' from securities laws which would enable crypto players to experiment with new business models. The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), a group whose members include the U.S. Nasdaq and Germany's Deutsche Boerse, said in a letter dated November 21 that an exemption could create market integrity risks and undermine investor protections. 'The SEC should avoid granting exemptions to firms attempting to bypass regulatory principles that have safeguarded markets for decades,' WFE CEO Nandini Sukumar told Reuters.

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