Computershare: Headwinds to tailwinds; upgrading the outlook for CPU

Research evidence excerpt

Computershare: Headwinds to tailwinds; upgrading the outlook for CPU

Tokenisation: Evolution, not revolution

We think recent tokenisation industry developments have cemented the enduring

relevance of – rather than threats to – traditional transfer agents like Computershare, as

the world moves towards asset tokenisation.

Firstly, SEC guidance has reinforced that tokenisation is expected to complement rather

than replace the traditional transfer agent function. Guidance issued in January 2026

suggests that even though the format of security issuance and register maintenance

may evolve in the future (from off-chain to on-chain), a tokenised security remains a

“security” subject to US federal securities laws. Maintenance of the master

securityholder file remains the responsibility of the issuer, or its transfer agent.

Secondly, recent corporate actions such as Computershare and Securitize’s partnership

announcement (April 2026) and Bullish’s acquisition of Equiniti (May 2026) points to

convergence rather than disruption of new-age tokenisation technology and traditional

transfer agent roles.

SEC supports tokenisation within existing infrastructure

In its January 2026 statement on tokenised securities, the SEC contemplated a variety of

tokenisation models that ascribe differing rights to holders, including 1) issuer-

sponsored tokenised securities and 2) third party-sponsored tokenised securities.

At the core of the SEC guidance is the responsibility of the issuer (or its transfer

agent) to maintain a master securityholder file.

1) Issuer-sponsored tokenised securities

This model would allow issuers to tokenise securities by issuing it in the format of a

crypto asset, which would involve integration of distributed ledger technology (DLT) into