SEC rules could put stock ownership on blockchain; trader fined $90,000

On Tuesday, the SEC proposed new transfer agent rules that could let a blockchain serve as the official record of share ownership.

The same day, the CFTC reached a settlement with a swaps trader who deleted messages he was ordered to preserve. Both actions center on what constitutes an official record.

On-chain stock records hinge on an obscure company

Behind every public company share is a transfer agent, which holds the master securityholder file—the issuer's legal record of ownership—and handles dividends and transfers.

The rules had not been updated since the early 1980s, but Tuesday's proposal amends current rules and forms, rescinds one rule, and adds several new ones. Commissioner Hester Peirce noted on X that the proposal was over a decade in the making.

The transfer agent rule proposal, more than a decade in the making, is finally out. We welcome comment on all aspects, including implications for tokenization: https://t.co/KyOF5WDStE and https://t.co/WAWDuncy4H

— Hester Peirce (@HesterPeirce) September 1, 2026

Chairman Paul Atkins linked the update to technology already in use by the industry.

“This proposal would streamline and modernize the Commission’s rules to reflect transfer agents’ current processes and operations, including the use of electronic communications and blockchain technology in connection with securities offerings and the transfer of shares,” read an excerpt in the announcement, citing Atkins.

That language determines whether a token is a genuine share or a wrapper. A transfer only has legal effect when the blockchain updates the official file. Meanwhile, the tokenization ownership gap has widened while regulations remained static.

Securitize, Computershare, and Equiniti have already taken steps in this direction. Registrars would also be required to disclose which securities they tokenize and which blockchains they use.

Penalty of $90,000 for messages that disappeared

In a separate case, the CFTC resolved an action of a different kind. A Manhattan federal court entered a consent order against John Patrick Gorman III, a US dollar swaps trader and managing director at a global investment bank.

.@CFTC Resolves Action Against Swaps Trader for Making False Statements: https://t.co/wQVX1L5wLx

— CFTC (@CFTC) September 1, 2026

In March 2019, enforcement staff instructed Gorman to preserve documents. He deleted WhatsApp threads and one text message instead.

Two months later, he told the agency he had destroyed nothing, a claim he repeated under testimony in November 2019.

“Attempts to impede or obstruct the Commission’s investigations go to the very heart of the division’s ability to detect wrongdoing and enforce the law,” the CFTC said in its release, citing David Miller, the agency’s enforcement director.

The order imposes a $90,000 fine on Gorman and permanently bars him from repeating the conduct. Regulators remain reliant on what traders choose to keep, the vulnerability a shared ledger removes.