The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Investor Advisory Committee has scheduled its next meeting to take place on December 4th.
The meeting will host two panels of interest. First, a discussion about changes in corporate governance; second, a discussion of the tokenization of securities.
The IAC will also discuss a possible recommendation regarding the Disclosure of Artificial Intelligence’s Impact on Issuer Operations.
The panel entitled, Tokenization of Equities: How Issuance, Trading, and Settlement Would Work with Existing Regulation, is a pressing topic that addresses an issue that will have a far-reaching impact not just within the US but around the world. Eventually, all securities will be digital, yet there are nuances to the transition from the analog past to securities that are “tokenized.”
While ignored or, worse, actively discouraged during the Biden Administration, digital securities are the future, and the SEC will play a key role in determining how this change will take place and how compliance will be incorporated into tokenized securities. The change will be profound and hard to overestimate.
On the same day, the SEC announced that Cristina Martin Firvida will exit her role as the Investor Advocate in January. She has held this position since January 2023.
SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins issued the following statement upon the announcement of Firvida’s departure.
“Our work at the SEC should always be rigorous and responsive to the needs and interests of investors, and Cristina and her staff have provided important policymaking support to the Commission. We wish her the best in her future endeavors and thank her for the contributions she made to our agency and investors as a whole.”
Firvida, who previously worked at AARP as a vice president, said it had been a privilege to serve investors and the Commission in the role.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to spotlight investor aspirations and challenges by providing timely empirical research, expert legal analysis, and direct engagement during a period of rapid change in the capital markets,” saod Firvida.
The IAC has no statutory power over SEC activities but can serve as a sounding board or advocate for rule changes. The committee has been criticized in the past for being more of an advocate for regulators, rather than serving the actual desires of investors.
The agenda for the IAC meeting will be livestreamed on the SEC website. The agenda is shared below.
Thursday, December 4, 2025
| Time | Agenda |
|---|---|
| 10:00 a.m. – 10:05 a.m. | Welcome |
| 10:05 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. | Opening Remarks From Commissioners |
| 10:20 a.m. – 10:25 a.m. | Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes |
| 10:25 a.m. – 12:20 p.m. | Panel Discussion: Regulatory Changes in Corporate Governance
In 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced significant changes to the evolving corporate governance landscape. These changes impact how shareholders engage and interact with issuers and how boards respond to shareholder concerns. Key areas of change include amendments to the shareholder proposal process (Rule 14a 8), the use of mandatory arbitration clauses, investor corporate engagement, and modifications to the proxy voting system. This panel will explore this evolving corporate governance landscape and is comprised of experts with various perspectives on the corporate governance eco-system. Moderated by:
Panelists:
|
| 12:20 p.m. – 12:30 p.m. | Remarks from the Chairman |
| 12:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. | Lunch/Non-Public Administrative Session |
| 2:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. | Panel Discussion: Tokenization of Equities: How Issuance, Trading, and Settlement Would Work with Existing Regulation
Tokenization is the issuance of a token representing ownership of an asset on a blockchain. This panel will explore the potential ways tokenization can improve how public equities are currently issued, traded, and settled while addressing how existing investor protections and securities laws apply. The discussion follows a significant increase in the issuance of tokenized securities. Different forms of tokenized equities may carry different ownership rights related to voting and receipt of dividends – panelists will share their views on the issuance and trading of natively-issued securities and wrappers. The panelists will also examine the applicability of Regulation NMS to tokenized equities, the interoperability of tokens issued across different blockchains and other key market structure issues, including settlement and short selling. Moderated by:
Panelists:
|
| 4:15 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. | Discussion of Draft Recommendation Regarding the Disclosure of Artificial Intelligence’s Impact on Operations |
| 4:45 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. | Subcommittee Reports |
| 5:00 p.m. | Closing Remarks and Adjourn |