The SEC's rewrite of custody rules for investment advisers and investment companies entered White House review on Aug. 25, introducing a new crypto-focused framework. The move follows the agency's withdrawal of a separate 2023 safeguarding proposal, and the public records currently show the review entry and the agenda description, not the draft's provisions.
New framework enters OIRA review
The Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed rewrite of custody rules for investment advisers and investment companies entered White House review on Aug. 25. The new framework would clarify how advisers and investment companies can hold crypto assets in custody 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 accounts held by an adviser as agent or trustee.
Its agenda covers both investment adviser client assets and investment-company fund assets, and says the SEC intends to remove burdens from provisions it considers outdated. OIRA's current-review data lists the rule, "Amendments to the Custody Rules," at the proposed-rule stage with an Aug. 25 date, filed as an SEC action under the Investment Advisers Act and Investment Company Act.
Rule text not yet public
The OIRA entry and 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, and for this SEC action the public records currently show 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 in compliance with current custody requirements. It does not specify which entities would qualify to custody crypto or which existing provisions the SEC would remove.
Withdrawn 2023 proposal set the stage
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 regulatory 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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