The SEC's rewrite of custody rules for investment advisers and investment companies entered White House review on Aug. 25, introducing a crypto-focused framework after the agency withdrew its 2023 safeguarding proposal. Public text isn't available yet, and the SEC targets October 2026 for a formal rulemaking notice.
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 crypto-focused framework into regulatory review after the agency withdrew a separate 2023 safeguarding proposal.
What the new rule would cover
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. The current adviser rule covers client funds and securities and generally requires a qualified custodian to maintain them in separate client accounts, or in accounts held by an adviser as agent or trustee. The new agenda extends to both investment adviser client assets and investment-company fund assets, and the SEC says it intends to remove burdens from provisions it considers outdated.
OIRA's current-review data lists RIN 3235-AN46, "Amendments to the Custody Rules," at the proposed-rule stage with an Aug. 25 date. The SEC agenda identifies the same RIN as an SEC action under the Investment Advisers Act and the Investment Company Act.
No text yet, no deadline
The OIRA entry and the SEC agenda provide no proposed rule text. A 2025 White House order says agencies must continue following Executive Order 12866 processes for submitting regulations to OIRA for review, but for this action the public record currently shows only the review entry and the agenda description, not the draft's provisions. The agenda notes that advisers and investment companies have raised questions about holding crypto assets in compliance with current custody requirements, though it does not specify which entities would qualify to custody crypto, what controls would apply, or which existing provisions the SEC would remove.
A different proposal than 2023
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, along with updated recordkeeping requirements. The Commission formally withdrew that proposal in June 2025 and said any future regulatory action in the area would require a new proposed rule.
Meanwhile, the current agenda targets October 2026 for a notice of proposed rulemaking and lists no legal deadline.
Source: The Defiant
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