The SEC's rewrite of custody rules for investment advisers and investment companies entered White House review on Aug. 25, opening a new crypto-focused framework to scrutiny after the agency withdrew a broader 2023 safeguarding proposal. No public text exists yet, and the SEC's own agenda targets October 2026 for a formal proposal.
The Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed rewrite of custody rules for investment advisers and investment companies entered White House review on Aug. 25, placing a new digital-asset custody framework into regulatory review after the agency withdrew a separate 2023 safeguarding proposal. The current adviser rule covers client funds and securities and generally requires a qualified custodian to hold them in separate client accounts or in accounts held by an adviser as agent or trustee.
Agenda Targets Outdated Provisions
The SEC's 2026 regulatory agenda says the planned rule would clarify how investment advisers and investment companies can custody crypto assets under Commission requirements. It covers both investment-adviser client assets and investment-company fund assets, and the agency says it intends to remove burdens from provisions it considers outdated. OIRA's current-review data lists the rule as RIN 3235-AN46, titled "Amendments to the Custody Rules," at the proposed-rule stage with an Aug. 25 date.
Rule Text Still Not Public
Neither the OIRA entry nor the SEC agenda provides proposed rule text. The public record currently shows only the review entry and the agenda description, not the draft's provisions. The agenda says advisers and investment companies have raised questions about holding crypto assets under current custody requirements, but it does not specify which entities would qualify to custody crypto or which existing provisions the SEC would remove.
The Withdrawn 2023 Proposal
The earlier safeguarding proposal, issued in February 2023 under a different regulatory identifier, would have retained qualified custodians while broadening the adviser rule beyond funds and securities to all client assets, including crypto. It also proposed protections meant to segregate client assets and protect them if a custodian became insolvent, alongside updated recordkeeping requirements. The Commission formally withdrew that proposal in June 2025 and said any future action in the area would require a new proposed rule. The current agenda targets October 2026 for a notice of proposed rulemaking and lists no legal deadline.
Source: The Defiant
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