The Alternative Asset Management Association (AIMA) announced that the US Securities and Exchange Commission has withdrawn the 2019 Joint Staff Statement on Broker-Dealer Custody of Digital Asset Securities, which AIMA had lobbied for in a recent letter to the regulator’s Crypto Task Force.
The staff statement from both the SEC and FINRA provided temporary guidance for broker-dealers on how they could custody digital asset securities under certain conditions. The agencies now accept this guidance is no longer needed.
Jack Inglis, AIMA CEO, said in a statement: “We welcome the SEC’s decision to withdraw its previous guidance on broker-dealers and the custody of digital assets. In our recent submission to the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, we urged the Commission to rescind the Special Purpose Broker-Dealer (SPBD) Statement.
“We believe broker-dealers should be able to custody digital asset securities – alongside other digital and traditional assets – without the imposition of unduly restrictive conditions.”