[co-author: Stephanie Kozol]
On May 8, 12 states led by Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), opposing its recently proposed rule to give the commission the authority to regulate non-securities, including cryptocurrencies.
While the current rules give the SEC the authority to regulate investment advisors who hold a client’s fund or securities, the proposed rule would expand the SEC’s jurisdiction to any client assets under the investment advisor’s control. In the letter, the state AGs argue that the SEC does not have the legal authority to regulate assets other than securities, raising federalism concerns since the proposed rule may impose federal regulations on state-chartered trust companies and bank entities. The AGs contend that instead of imposing this rule, the SEC should wait for Congress to decide how to best regulate cryptocurrencies.
Why It Matters
Since current cryptocurrency regulation is not well defined nor assigned to one particular regulatory body, if the SEC implements the rule, the AGs’ arguments opposing the rule could make their way into legal arguments in court.
