Transfer agent
A transfer agent is an SEC-registered entity that maintains the official record of a security's owners and processes transfers, and in tokenized offerings may keep that ownership ledger on-chain.
A transfer agent is the entity that keeps the official record of who owns a security and processes changes to that record. Traditionally it tracks shareholders, cancels and reissues certificates, handles transfers when securities change hands, and helps distribute dividends and other payments.
Transfer agents that serve SEC-reporting companies register with the SEC and are subject to its rules on recordkeeping and safeguarding securities. They are distinct from a broker-dealer, which effects trades; the transfer agent maintains the ledger of ownership behind those trades.
Tokenization changes the mechanics but not the function. Because a blockchain is itself an ownership ledger, several SEC-registered transfer agents now treat the on-chain token record as the official record of ownership - the security token itself becomes the book-entry. This is a meaningful part of why tokenized securities can be legitimate rather than merely a shadow copy of a separate paper register.
A transfer agent is required in some structures (for example, a Regulation A+ Tier 2 offering of certain securities) and is commonly used in others to keep a clean, auditable cap table that reconciles the issuer's legal records with the wallets holding tokens. Whether one is legally required for a specific offering depends on its structure.
Source: U.S. SEC (sec.gov), as of 2026.
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Educational content, not financial or legal advice.