White House Reviews SEC Proposal to Amend Financial Rules for Crypto Brokers
Key Facts
The White House is reviewing a proposal from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to change how brokers handle digital assets, according to a Bloomberg report published on November 5, 2026. The official record lists the filing as a "proposed rule," meaning the review does not represent the issuance of final, effective rules. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs showed that it received the filing on November 3, 2026. The proposal carries regulatory identification number 3235-AN48 and covers amendments to financial responsibility, recordkeeping and reporting rules for broker-dealers regarding crypto assets. Bloomberg quoted the proposal as aiming to change how brokers operate with digital assets, while the record sets no statutory deadline for the review.
The filing's title indicates that the review covers brokers' financial responsibility, along with recordkeeping and reporting requirements related to crypto assets. The Securities and Exchange Commission's agenda says the division is considering recommending amendments to Rules 15c3-1 and 15c3-3, other financial responsibility rules, as well as Rules 17a-3 and 17a-4. According to the agenda's description, the amendments are intended to address how these rules apply to crypto assets. They therefore cover existing rules whose application to these assets is under consideration, rather than a new framework confirmed to have taken effect. The official record sets no statutory deadline for the review, leaving the timing of the next steps unresolved in the published information.
The regulatory agenda classified the filing as economically significant while keeping it at the proposed-rule stage. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs shows the same classification for economic significance, while indicating that there is no statutory deadline for the review. The schedule published in the agency's 2026 agenda had set July 2026 as the target date for a proposed-rule notice. That date had passed by the time the news was published, but the filing remained listed as a proposal under review. The schedule does not establish that a notice or final rule was issued, nor does it provide an alternative date for the next step.
The customer protection rules addressed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a separate filing provide context for one aspect of broker regulation. In October 2026, the agency described the customer protection rule as safeguarding customers' funds and securities and effectively prohibiting brokers from using customer assets to finance company activities unrelated to serving securities customers. But that framework appeared in a separate proposal concerning the custody of client assets by investment advisers and regulated funds, and on its own does not establish the details of the impact of the broker rules proposal under review. In earlier guidance, the agency's FAQs said its staff would not object to treating a broker's proprietary position in a payment stablecoin as having a ready market under Rule 15c3-1, with a 2% capital haircut applied to the greater of the long or short position. This shows that the agency has previously addressed the application of capital rules to some crypto-asset activities, while the current filing considers broader amendments to financial responsibility, recordkeeping and reporting rules.
On a parallel track, the agency proposed a separate framework in October 2026 for the custody of client assets by investment advisers and regulated funds. That proposal was published in the Federal Register on October 6 and set December 7, 2026, as the deadline for receiving comments. The deadline applies to the separate custody proposal, not the broker-dealer rules filing under White House review. The current report focuses on proposal number 3235-AN48, which remains under review without an announced statutory deadline. The agenda said the amendments under consideration would address the application of capital, asset protection and recordkeeping rules to crypto assets, while no final, effective rules were presented.