Crypto Legal Insights: Compliance and Regulatory Updates

On 30 September 2025, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) Chair, Marlene Amstad, addressed the AMF–AEFR Conference on Technological Frontiers in Finance in Paris. The event was hosted by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) and the Association Europe Finances Régulations (AEFR), featuring global regulators including Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Chair of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and Tuang Lee Lim, Assistant Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Chair of the IOSCO Fintech Task Force. The discussion focused on the growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) across financial markets and regulatory supervision. Amstad outlined FINMA’s findings from Swiss market surveys, the IOSCO SupTech Survey, and the global implications of AI for financial stability, governance, and international cooperation.

On 8 October 2025, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC) postponed its scheduled Crypto Task Force Roundtable on Financial Surveillance and Privacy due to a lapse in federal appropriations. The event, originally set to take place at US SEC Headquarters in Washington D.C. from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM ET on 17 october 2025, will be rescheduled to a later date. Registration had been open for in-person attendance, with a webcast option available to the public. Updated details on the agenda and participating panelists will be announced once a new date is confirmed.

On 30 September 2025, United States SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce addressed the Digital Assets Summit in Singapore, delivering remarks titled “Cultivating Confidence: The Role of Custody in Institutional Confidence – Public Trust and Oversight.” Commissioner Peirce spoke on the challenges of crypto custody and the urgent need for clarity in regulatory treatment of custodians. She emphasised that investor trust depends on effective and adaptable custody frameworks, not outdated prescriptions. The Commissioner discussed how restrictive regulatory steps, such as the US SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 and the Special Purpose Broker-Dealer framework, hindered market participation. Peirce urged regulators to consider principles-based custody frameworks and recognise technological solutions like blockchain transparency and smart contracts. She reaffirmed that fostering investor confidence requires balancing regulatory oversight with commercial reality.

On 30 September 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC), through its Division of Investment Management, issued a no-action letter permitting state-chartered trust companies to act as custodians for crypto assets under the United States Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the United States Investment Company Act of 1940. The relief allows investment advisers, registered investment companies, and business development companies to treat certain state trust companies as “banks,” provided they operate under state supervision and possess fiduciary authority. The decision triggered immediate dissent from US SEC Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw, who issued a strongly worded statement titled “Poking Holes: Statement in Response to No-Action Relief for State Trust Companies Acting as Crypto Asset Custodians.” Crenshaw warned that the new relief dilutes investor protections embedded in federal custody regulations and bypasses statutory due process, underscoring the need for formal rulemaking on digital asset custodianship.