Wall Street group warns SEC against third-party stock tokens

The Securities Transfer Association (STA), which represents the Wall Street transfer agent industry, has urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to favor issuer-approved tokenized securities and apply strict regulations to stock tokens issued by third parties. According to CoinDesk, the STA argued in a comment letter to the SEC that blockchain-based stocks must be actual securities directly approved by the company and listed on the official shareholder register. The association noted that, in contrast, tokens issued by third parties force investors to bear the credit, custody, and operational risks of the issuing platform, making them fundamentally different from real shares. The STA asserted that any future SEC innovation exemptions, pilot programs, no-action relief, or permanent regulatory frameworks for tokenized securities should apply exclusively to the issuer-approved model.