Coinbase Exchange spokesperson said: “We didn’t ask for permission for acquisitions, we didn’t need it”
Coinbase Ltd, after stating that it had received the green light from the SEC for three acquisitions that would transform it into a real authorized and regulated exchange, takes a partial step back and declares that it never asked for these three authorizations for one simple reason: it did not need them.
The exchange had previously told Bloomberg News that it had been authorised by SEC and FINRA to purchase Keystone Capital Corp., Venovate Marketplace Inc. and Digital Wealth LLC, companies active in financial exchange management and advice.
A choice that seemed dictated by an expansion plan wanted by the Californian company to be able to cover security tokens as well.
Now Coinbase spokeswoman Rachael Horwitz has partially denied this: “It is not correct to say that the SEC and FINRA approved Coinbase’s purchase of Keystone because SEC was not involved in the approval process. The SEC’s approval is not required for the change of control application. Coinbase has discussed aspects of its proposed operations, including the acquisition of the Keystone Entity, on an informal basis with several members of SEC staff.“
For its part, the SEC spokesperson had previously denied that there had been any approval from the federal body. In short, there were probably exchanges of views, not even unofficial but informal, but that was enough to create the case. Or rather the news.
FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) is an SRO (Self-Regulating Organisation) to which US stock exchanges and authorised brokers must subscribe.
While the SEC is a federal agency, FINRA is a private body with public functions under the regulations, which financial operators not governed by other regulations must register with.
