Odaily Planet Daily reports that global investment management firm Franklin Templeton is exploring regulatory exemptions to allow tokenized money market funds and ETFs to trade on blockchain-based venues. On October 9, the company met with staff from the SEC’s cryptocurrency task force to discuss legal issues including pricing, fees, and asset pools.
The agenda includes whether investors can exchange blockchain fund shares for tokenized National Market System stocks via blockchain trading venues, and whether liquidity providers can charge service fees. Related issues involve the Investment Company Act’s pricing rules and whether exemptions are required.
Regarding tokenized ETFs, Franklin Templeton also discussed whether trading pairs composed of tokenized stocks, approved payment-stablecoins, or tokenized money market funds, as well as liquidity pools, require an investment company regulatory exemption. Its preliminary disclosure as of September 30 reported assets under management of $1.79 trillion.
Franklin Templeton's blockchain-based fund operations began with the launch of the Franklin Onchain U.S. Government Money Fund in 2021. The BENJI token represents shares in this fund; transferring the token simultaneously transfers the corresponding shares, and all transactions are recorded and tracked by the Benji Technology Platform to maintain shareholder records. (Bitcoin.com News)