The largest US transfer agent, Computershare, has partnered with Securitize for issuer sponsored tokens (ISTs). This enables companies, whether listed or otherwise, to allow their stock to be held in tokenized form, with the token providing full ownership rights. These tokenized stocks are considered to be natively digital tokens, with the transfer agent responsible for tracking who owns which share by identifying all wallet holders.
Computershare is transfer agent to 2,500 companies in the US, including 58% of the S&P 500. Nasdaq also recently announced plans to offer a similar service.
A key benefit of ISTs is that issuers can potentially get a better sense of who their stockholders are and have more direct engagement. In the US the vast majority of conventional listed stocks are held by the DTC’s Cede & Co nominee, with broker dealers acting as intermediaries for shareholders to exercise their rights. The alternative is to hold stocks via the direct registration system (DRS), which involves interfacing directly with the transfer agent. Issuer sponsored tokens are an add on to the direct registration system.
“Our focus has been to empower US-listed companies to issue tokenized equity while retaining control with confidence over their issued capital,” said Ann Bowering, CEO, Issuer Services, Computershare North America. “We designed ISTs to operate within the existing regulatory environment, maintaining the independence and oversight that issuers and regulators expect from a transfer agent and allowing for effective interoperability with market infrastructure.”
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