I want to extend my highest praise to Paul Atkins, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, for the wise decision — perhaps a better characterization being the brilliant decision — he announced today on behalf of the SEC about Stock Tokens.
The SEC granted a five year period of experimentation on this topic in U.S. markets. In doing so, the SEC laid out some inviolate and unequivocally annumerated conditions:
The SEC highlighted that “Investor Protection Is Not Optional.” The SEC clearly laid out that even as it puts forward an “Innovation Exemption,” the SEC has an implicit right to govern on this issue. This means that at least within the U.S., there is an underpinning that appropriate regulatory bodies can regulate
as they think is needed. I believe that over the last full century, investors have best been protected when U.S. regulatory bodies have been involved and U.S. securities laws have been applicable. Thank you, SEC.
The SEC also emphasized that there can be “No Synthetics.” Any such Stock Tokens must carry full voting and dividend rights. No synthetics is such a vital and basic concept. Thank you, SEC.
Also of crucial importance, the SEC mandated that “Issuers Can Object.” It said that issuers of stock must have the opportunity to object and prevent their security from being trading on a Tokenized Securities Venue if companies so choose. This puts companies in charge of their own securities and capital structures, not brokerage houses. Thank you, SEC.
I applaud what the SEC did today. Bravo!
And
@vladtenev and
@dangallagher I note that at Robinhood you accepted and supported the SEC’s ruling today. I call on you now to adhere to the exact same standards internationally. How hypocritical would it be if Robinhood’s stock tokens abroad were to differ materially from stock tokens in the U.S. on these hyper-important matters of investor protections, synthetics and issuer objections.
Adam Aron
Chairman and CEO
AMC Entertainment