top of page
Tokenising Startups logo

Independent UK news and guides on tokenised equity, for founders raising capital, investors and the firms that support them. Published by Tokenisation Group Limited, London. Information only, not financial advice.

SIFMA wants SEC innovation exemption changed before venues launch

Writer: Shawn Jhanji
Shawn Jhanji
Oct 21
3 min read

SIFMA, the US securities industry trade body, urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a letter dated 19 October 2026 to change the SEC innovation exemption before tokenised securities venues open. The exemption took effect on 17 September 2026 and lets venues trade tokenised US stocks without being treated as exchanges.


What SIFMA is asking the SEC to change

According to SIFMA's letter of 19 October 2026, the SEC should amend its order to require affirmative issuer consent, lengthen the objection period and create a universal issuer opt-out. SIFMA's concern, as Ledger Insights reported on 20 October 2026, is that "issuers get one narrow chance to block a third party token of their stock".


Punk-style editorial collage showing SIFMA demanding changes to the SEC’s tokenised stock innovation exemption, including issuer consent, longer objection periods and a universal opt-out, against a backdrop of the US Capitol, Wall Street and tokenised stock symbols.

The letter also asks the SEC to resolve open questions in four areas, Markets Media reported: issuer notice and consent; investor protection, illicit finance and enforcement; trading volume limits; and beneficial ownership, corporate actions and transferability. SIFMA supports giving venues more time before they begin operating if the SEC needs it.


On volume, Ledger Insights reports that the limits apply per venue while anyone can open a venue, so the caps are easy to circumvent. SIFMA asks the SEC to monitor aggregate trading across all venues and publish figures by stock. The sources reviewed give no figure for the caps themselves.


SIFMA chief executive Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. said, as Markets Media reported: "Tokenization has real potential to modernize our markets, but getting the foundations right from day one is essential."


How issuer objection has run against OKXICE

OKXICE, the joint venture of Intercontinental Exchange and OKX, filed formal notice of its plans on 4 October 2026, as covered in earlier reporting on the filing, when one objection had arrived. By 15 October nine issuers had objected, and by 19 October sixteen, according to Ledger Insights on 19 October 2026. Those objections remove 17 of the original 63 symbols before launch.


The arithmetic shows the pace. Seventeen of 63 symbols is 27 per cent, which leaves 46 symbols. Seven of the sixteen objections arrived between 15 and 19 October, after the first nine, and the seven named in that second wave are Microsoft, Alphabet, Goldman Sachs, Qualcomm, Caterpillar, McDonald's and Western Digital.


The first wave included Cerebras, CoreWeave, Applied Digital and Broadcom. JPMorgan, Walmart, Costco and Eli Lilly had not objected by 19 October, and crypto-native firms listed on the venue, including Coinbase, Robinhood, Circle and Securitize, had stayed silent, according to reports. The sources do not give the reasons in the objections.


At the SIFMA annual conference, JPMorgan's Eddie Wen asked whether issuers have a right to say how their shares are represented and traded on tokenised platforms. He warned that "liquidity tends to migrate toward channels with the fewest rules".


The sources differ on how close venues are to trading. Ledger Insights says two venues have published formal notices, while Markets Media says several have and that they may begin operating within 30 days. The difference is unresolved in the sources reviewed.


Where tokenised securities venues touch UK founders

The order covers stocks listed on US national securities exchanges, known as NMS stocks, so a UK private company sits outside it. The question it raises travels, though: when a venue can list a token of a company's shares, the issuer's protection is a notice and an objection period.


The UK side of the same question is covered in earlier reporting on unauthorised tokenised stock platforms and the UK's regulated framework. The US background is in coverage of the SEC's September exemption and of what SEC officials expected from the first venue filings.


The practical reading is that issuer consent is becoming the contested point in tokenised equity. The counter argument is that a consent requirement slows venues and could push trading to platforms outside the exemption, which is the dynamic Wen described. No SEC response to the letter was found in the sources reviewed. This is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice.


Key takeaways

  • SIFMA wrote to the SEC on 19 October 2026 asking it to require affirmative issuer consent, lengthen the objection period and create a universal issuer opt-out under its innovation exemption.

  • Sixteen issuers had objected to the OKXICE venue by 19 October 2026, removing 17 of the original 63 symbols, or 27 per cent.

  • SIFMA also wants the SEC to monitor trading volume across all venues in aggregate and publish figures by stock, since the caps apply per venue.

  • The exemption covers US listed stocks, so UK private companies are outside it, but the question of who controls a share token is the one any secondary venue faces.

Comments

bottom of page