U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission Commissioner Peirce urges expanded retail access to private markets and clearer rules for digital asset products and custody

In remarks at an asset management industry conference, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission Commissioner Hester M. Peirce argued that the SEC should adapt its regulatory approach to support innovation while expanding investor choice, with a focus on retail access to private markets and the treatment of digital assets in regulated products. Peirce called for more meaningful expansion of the SEC’s “accredited investor” definition and supported staff action to revisit a long-standing staff position that closed-end funds investing 15% or more of assets in private funds should impose a USD 25,000 minimum initial investment and limit sales to accredited investors, noting that neither statute nor SEC rules require those limitations. She also pointed to increasing activity in digital asset exchange-traded products, including staff review of multiple listing applications and the potential value of a standardized approach, while reiterating that a fund primarily holding spot crypto assets that are not securities cannot register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. On custody, she highlighted uncertainty over whether state-chartered limited purpose trusts qualify as “banks” under the custody frameworks of the Investment Company Act and Investment Advisers Act, and urged Division of Investment Management guidance and a broader reassessment of whether custody requirements should remain anchored to “qualified custodian” status; she also flagged open questions on crypto exposure through instruments not trading on a U.S.-regulated exchange and on tokenization of securities issued by registered investment companies.