Latest news with #SEC-regulated
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Circle's CEO is thrilled over SEC oversight
In today's CEO Daily: Diane Brady on Circle's IPO pop. The big story: Elon Musk and Donald Trump are fighting. The markets: Up in U.S. before jobs report. Analyst notes from UBS, BofA, and Goldman Sachs. Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune. Good morning. Yesterday was a very good day for Jeremy Allaire, as shares in his crypto firm Circle (CRCL) began trading on the New York Stock Exchange, closing at 168% above its $31 IPO price (the company upsized the IPO the night before its debut). 'As we went through our IPO Road Show and ultimately priced the deal, we saw an incredible amount of interest and enthusiasm from an incredibly broad and deep array of investors,' Allaire told me in a phone conversation on Thursday. It's been a long journey for Allaire, who tried to take the stablecoin issuer public through a SPAC merger in 2021 but didn't get approval from the SEC, which had then questioned how to classify its USD Coin, a form of cryptocurrency backed by the U.S. dollar, and the company itself. Fast forward and it's a new day. The GENIUS Act just passed the Senate with bipartisan support and looks likely to become law, providing a federal framework for regulating stablecoins. (The House introduced its own stablecoin bill.) Said Allaire: 'No matter what your political affiliation is, sound regulation makes sense, especially when a technology like this is on the cusp of such widespread adoption.' For Allaire, though, nothing matches the thrill of being under the watch of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 'As a financial platform and financial infrastructure company that people are going to build on, where we're actually issuing a new kind of money, being public really matters,' he said. 'Becoming an SEC-regulated and supervised company just strengthens those attributes at a time where stable coin is becoming a global mainstream phenomenon.' At the end of a long day, Allaire told me he's grateful to his family, his team, developers that build applications on this technology, and the broad and deep array of investors that helped give Circle a successful debut. But, he says, he doesn't want to get too caught up in the stock price. 'What's important is that we're building a great company. We've got investors that want to be with us. We've got a lot to do.' More news CEO Daily via Diane Brady at This story was originally featured on Errore nel recupero dei dati Effettua l'accesso per consultare il tuo portafoglio Errore nel recupero dei dati Errore nel recupero dei dati Errore nel recupero dei dati Errore nel recupero dei dati
Business Mayor
24-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
Rating agencies in public brawl over scores for private credit
Unlock the Editor's Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Two US credit rating agencies have become embroiled in a rare public dispute over the reliability of scores for insurance companies' growing stash of private credit investments. The dispute involves a study, since withdrawn by its publisher, purporting to find that small credit rating agencies assign more generous scores to private credit investments than the larger and more established ones. Kroll Bond Rating Agency has accused Fitch Ratings of misleading market participants by relying on the study to raise doubts about the quality of its ratings. Fitch on Monday published a report critical of Kroll and other groups, based on the 2024 study, issued by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. A Fitch spokesperson stood by its report, arguing the insurance commissioner's group reached similar conclusions in prior studies. 'If the (association) provides new information, we will update our analysis.' The unusually overt quarrel highlights the intense competition in the fast-growing and lucrative $1.6tn private credit industry to carve out turf — not just among lenders, but among the groups paid to referee creditworthiness of the market's opaque investment offerings. 'There's a build-up of risk in the insurance industry and also potentially in the collateralised loan sector that is not being properly monitored,' said Ann Rutledge, a former senior Moody's analyst and now chief executive of rating agency CreditSpectrum. 'The opacity and the risk are both attributable to the fact that there are cracks in the foundation of the current SEC-regulated credit rating industry.' Read More Prudential to launch $2bn share buyback Insurers and other investors use the types of ratings in question, known as private letter ratings, when no public ratings are available. Larger ratings firms historically have eschewed issuing these types of scores for private credit products, leaving the market dominated by smaller agencies. Private letter investments were 'inherently more risky given the lack of transparency and potential ratings inflation', analysts at JPMorgan said in a recent note, adding 'there is an inherent challenge in assessing credit quality from the outside as no part of the process, analysis, or information is transparent from the outside'. Kroll, which was among the first to challenge the establishment credit agencies with its launch after the global financial crisis, said it was troubled by its larger rival's boosting of 'statistically unsound' research. It said Fitch's criticism appeared geared towards supporting its own grab for dominance. 'In seeking relevance to increase its market share in private credit, Fitch appears to have undercut two foundational principles for any rating agency — integrity and analytical rigour,' Kroll said in a statement. The study by the NAIC focused on the rise of private letter ratings for insurers' private credit investments, which totalled about $350bn at the end of 2023. It found confidentially-issued grades from smaller rating shops were more likely to deviate from scores by the association's own securities valuation office and were notably higher on average. According to the original report, smaller groups such as Kroll tended to offer ratings three notches higher than the association's internal score, while larger agencies such as Fitch offered ratings about two notches higher. Read More The sporting weekend in pictures Recommended The study also showed that the number of privately rated securities held by US insurers grew from 2,850 in 2019 to 8,152 in 2023, and that the share of securities rated by small credit rating providers such as Egan-Jones, Kroll and Morningstar had grown to 86 per cent in 2023. The report also noted that Fitch is the leading provider of private letter ratings among the big three US rating agencies, ahead of S&P Global Ratings and Moody's Ratings. But earlier this month, the insurance association announced it was removing the report from its website 'to undergo further editorial work to clarify the analysis presented'. Without naming names, the insurance association said it would 'evaluate how the information we provide to the public could be misconstrued or otherwise utilised in inappropriate ways'. The NAIC declined a request for comment.
Associated Press
15-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Securitize Acquires MG Stover's Fund Administration Business to Become the Largest Digital Asset Fund Administrator
Securitize Fund Services now administers over $38 billion in assets across 715 funds MIAMI, April 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Securitize, the leading platform for real-world asset tokenization, has announced the acquisition of MG Stover's Fund Administration business, the pioneering fund administration firm for digital assets. With this acquisition, Securitize's subsidiary, Securitize Fund Services ('SFS'), becomes the world's largest digital asset fund administrator. This acquisition significantly expands SFS, enhancing its ability to provide best-in-class fund administration, compliance, and reporting solutions to institutional-grade asset issuers and investors, while seamlessly integrating with Securitize's broader offerings, including a broker-dealer and digital transfer agent capabilities, tokenization platform, operator of an alternative trading system (ATS), and digital asset management. As of Monday April 14, 2025*, Securitize has issued $3.3B+ in assets on-chain, including: 'Securitize's acquisition of MG Stover's Fund Administration business cements our role as the most comprehensive platform for institutional grade real-world asset tokenization and fund administration,' said Carlos Domingo, Co-Founder & CEO of Securitize. 'This is a significant step in our growth, reinforcing our commitment to expanding our capabilities as we serve an ever-expanding cohort of asset issuers and investors.' Founded in 2007, MG Stover's Fund Administration team has built a reputation for high-touch service, investor-focused solutions, and cutting-edge technology. By joining Securitize Fund Services, the team will add its expertise to a platform that facilitates fund administration alongside a broader suite of regulated financial services, including: Following the acquisition of MG Stover's Fund Administration business, SFS will service $38 billion in assets across 715 funds. For more information, visit About Securitize Securitize, the leader in tokenizing real-world assets, is bringing the world on-chain through tokenized funds in partnership with top-tier asset managers, such as Apollo, BlackRock, Hamilton Lane, KKR and others. Securitize, through its subsidiaries, is a SEC-registered broker dealer, digital transfer agent, fund administrator and operator of a SEC-regulated Alternative Trading System (ATS). Securitize has also been recognized as a 2025 Forbes Top 50 Fintech company. For more information, please visit Securitize Disclosures Securities are offered through Securitize Markets, LLC, ('Securitize Markets') a registered broker-dealer and member FINRA/SIPC. Securitize Markets, LLC, and Securitize Capital, an Exempt Reporting Adviser, are not involved in either Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization, a service provided by Securitize Inc., nor fund administration, a service provided by Securitize Fund Services, LLC. Assets such as digital assets or tokens using blockchain, are speculative, involve a high degree of risk, are generally illiquid, may have no value, have limited regulatory certainty, are subject to potential market manipulation risks and may expose investors to loss of principal. Securitize, Inc. (Securitize) is a Delaware corporation. Securitize is a technology provider which, together with its affiliates, maintains an end-to-end web-based platform used by issuers for issuing securities, specifically including digital asset securities. Securitize is not a registered broker-dealer. Securitize, LLC is a transfer agent registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Securitize Markets also operates Securitize Markets ATS, an alternative trading system. Securitize Capital, LLC is an exempt reporting adviser filed with the State of Florida. *Data as of April 14, 2025. Source: Past performance is not indicative of future results. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Securitize
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
U.S. SEC's Crypto Trading Roundtable Delves Into Easing Path for Platforms
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could consider a short-term crypto oversight framework to allow firms to keep innovating while the agency works out a more permanent answer to digital assets regulation, interim Chairman Mark Uyeda suggested during a Friday event at the agency's Washington headquarters. "We should consider whether there may be a more efficient method of regulation under an accommodating federal regulatory framework," said Uyeda, in a recorded statement played at the agency's latest crypto industry roundtable. "While the Commission works to develop a long term solution to address these issues, a time-limited, conditional exempt relief framework for registrants and non-registrants could allow for greater innovation with blockchain technology within the United States in the near term." The securities regulator is waiting for Congress to deliver a crypto market-structure law that will allow it to start writing the rules that the digital assets sector has been clamoring for. That may happen as soon as later this year, according to the lawmakers working on that effort, but months will pass before its arrival and even longer for the SEC and other relevant federal agencies to write regulations and put them in motion. During this second in a series of crypto roundtables the agency hosted as it overhauls its digital assets stance, Uyeda was still running the agency, though the incoming chairman, Paul Atkins, is poised to take over. Once he arrives, though, Uyeda and fellow Republican Commissioner Hester Peirce, a crypto advocate, will still be on board. The Republican commissioners noted crypto platforms' interest in handling both traditionally SEC-regulated activity and business outside the agency's scope, all under the same roof. "What can and should we do in the short term, and what should Congress consider in the longer term to ensure that the regulatory gaps are filled as firms increasingly seek to combine securities and non-securities trading activity?" asked Peirce, who leads the SEC Crypto Task Force. The SEC's sole Democratic commissioner, Caroline Crenshaw, argued that some of the market disruptions and company failures in the recent past have forced industry observers to become "painfully aware of the mismatch between investors expectations and reality." "Crypto trading platforms are unique because, among other reasons, they often perform multiple services under one roof, sometimes including bridge clearing and custody," said Crenshaw. In traditional finance, those kinds of functions are "typically performed by separate registered entities," because they come with a "high risk of conflicts of interest and risks for investors." Read More: SEC 'Earnest' About Finding Workable Crypto Policy, Commissioners Say at Roundtable Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
SEC Chair Nominee Paul Atkins, Spouse Worth at Least $327 Million
(Bloomberg) -- Paul Atkins, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, and his spouse have a combined net worth of at least $327 million, which would make him the wealthiest SEC chair in recent decades if confirmed. They Built a Secret Apartment in a Mall. Now the Mall Is Dying. Why Did the Government Declare War on My Adorable Tiny Truck? Chicago Transit Faces 'Doomsday Scenario,' Regional Agency Says Trump Slashed International Aid. Geneva Is Feeling the Impact. Paris Votes to Make 500 More Streets Car-Free His stake in Patomak Global Partners, the consulting firm he founded, is worth at least $25 million, based on paperwork filed with the Office of Government Ethics. The documents, including more than 70 pages detailing extensive investments, compensation and other assets, were made public Tuesday, two days before his nomination hearing before the Senate Banking Committee. Senator Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the panel, asked Atkins this week to commit to a four-year cooling-off period from lobbying the commission or consulting or joining any SEC-regulated companies after leaving the agency to mitigate potential conflicts. Atkins' total net worth includes assets held by his wife, an heir of a national roofing-products firm and its parent company, Tamko Holdings Inc., where he serves as a director, according to the filings. Nominees disclose the value of their holdings in broad ranges, so the filings don't reflect an individual's exact net worth. The top tier for a nominee's asset is over $50 million, with Atkins' Tamko Holdings shares in that range. For an investment wholly owned for a nominee's spouse or dependent child, that tier is more than $1 million, and Atkins listed dozens of assets above that mark. Atkins served as a Republican SEC commissioner from 2002 to 2008, and went on to become a key Washington financial regulatory insider through Patomak. He was formally nominated to lead the country's top markets regulator on Jan. 20, the day of Trump's inauguration. Atkins said he will resign as Patomak's chief executive officer within 90 days of confirmation. The firm has worked with a who's who of Wall Street and digital-asset firms, among others. That clientele has raised questions about how Atkins will navigate any potential conflicts of interest. His financial filings detail compensation from Patomak clients including Bank of America Corp., Barclays Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp., global investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte. and trading firm Virtu Financial Inc., among others. He also listed an investment of $1 million to $5 million in a fund managed by digital-asset investment firm Off the Chain Capital LLC, which aims to outperform Bitcoin, according to its website. The SEC has already begun work to craft a favorable regulatory framework for the digital-asset industry. Under Acting Chair Mark Uyeda, it's also started exploring ways to blur the traditionally bright lines between retail and institutional trading and investment. Atkins' holdings and affiliations relate directly to those two policy issues. He resigned in December from his role as co-chair of the Token Alliance, a crypto-advocacy organization affiliated with the Digital Chamber. He also has numerous private-fund investments, which he said he would divest from if confirmed. In his filing, Atkins said would avoid participating in matters involving Patomak or its clients for one year after last services to a customer, unless he's first authorized to participate. Atkins said he has left his position as an advisory board member at Securitize Inc., a blockchain-based financial-services company that tokenizes private funds. He said he would divest his vested stock options in the firm within 90 days of confirmation. He made the same pledge for his position at Pontoro Inc., a fintech firm specializing in private credit, where he has an equity interest. He also said he had resigned from his position at Tamcap Insurance Co. and had an equity interest in the firm. Atkins said he will resign from his position at Tamko Holdings but will continue to own stock in the firm. His wife, Sarah, is the granddaughter of Jay Humphreys, Tamko's founder. She is an employee of Tamko Building Products and participates in its profit-sharing plan. Atkins said he wouldn't participate in a matter that has a direct and predictable effect on the company unless first obtaining a waiver. Atkins will retain his position as a trustee of multiple family trusts, including that of his wife's family. Gary Gensler, who served as SEC chair under former President Joe Biden, had a net worth of as much as $119 million when he took the role. Gensler made broad commitments to avoid participating in matters in which he had a financial interest unless he also obtained a written waiver, according to the ethics agreement filed as part of his confirmation process. Google Is Searching for an Answer to ChatGPT The Richest Americans Kept the Economy Booming. What Happens When They Stop Spending? A New 'China Shock' Is Destroying Jobs Around the World Business Schools Are Back How TD Became America's Most Convenient Bank for Money Launderers ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
