On 17 September 2026, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an order granting temporary, conditional exemptive relief, published as Order 4-927 and announced in Press Release 2026-90. The order relieves Tokenized Securities Venues (each a TSV) from the definition of 'exchange' in the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 so that they may trade tokenized National Market System (NMS) stock using permissioned automated market makers and liquidity pools. The Commission acted by exemptive order rather than by proposed rule, and paired the order with a request for public comment.
The relief operates against the Exchange Act definition of 'exchange' and the definition of 'dealer' in Exchange Act Section 3(a)(5). Absent the order, a venue matching orders in NMS stock would fall within the 'exchange' definition and would have to register as a national securities exchange or operate as an alternative trading system, and a participant standing ready to buy and sell tokenized shares for its own account would fall within Section 3(a)(5). The order withdraws neither definition. It suspends their application to conduct that meets the stated conditions.
Tokenized Securities Venues, the broker-dealers and liquidity providers that supply their AMM Liquidity Pools, and issuers of NMS-listed shares are the parties with a direct regulatory interest. Conditions attached to the order include trading volume and symbol limits, a requirement that tokenized shares carry rights identical to the underlying NMS stock, notice to issuers with an opportunity to object before a third party lists a tokenized version of their shares, smart contracts that are auditable, public and deployed on permissionless ledgers, trading halts aligned with stoppages on the primary listing exchange, and public disclosure of operations and affiliate trading.
The exemptions expire five years after publication, so a venue relying on them is building on relief with a fixed end date and no automatic renewal. The order reaches tokenized NMS stock and does not extend to other asset classes. The accompanying request for comment invites views on modifications and next steps. The press release states no closing date for comment, so venues and issuers intending to respond should track Federal Register publication for the deadline.
Licentium and its partner network advise trading venues, broker-dealers and token issuers on US federal securities regulation and digital asset market structure. Work we undertake includes exemptive relief condition mapping, tokenized securities venue structuring, broker-dealer and alternative trading system registration analysis, and regulatory comment letter preparation.