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Peter Sweeney Comment On Regulatory Notice 25-05

Peter Sweeney
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About half of the nation’s financial advisors personally own crypto. If this rule is enacted, upwards of a hundred thousand FAs will have to inform their B/Ds of their crypto holdings and seek written permission to keep them. If permission is not obtained, the FAs will be required to sell their crypto assets, transfer to another firm that permits their investments, or be terminated. If this rule is enacted as-is, tens of thousands of Registered Reps will drop their FINRA licenses and switch to SEC jurisdiction as Registered Investment Advisors. By operating as an Investment Advisor Representative of an RIA, these reps will avoid FINRA’s antiquated posture, establish themselves as fiduciaries serving their clients’ best interests (which will enhance their stature in the eyes of their clients) and enable them to continue to personally own crypto. The FAs will be better off, their clients will be better off, the RIAs they join will be better off, and the losers will be FINRA and the B/Ds it oversees.

Please do not impose these changes as they are not in the best intrest of any US Asset holders.