Robinhood CEO rejects issuer veto over stock tokens

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev has argued that public companies should not control third-party stock tokens when the products leave shareholder rights, issuer obligations and corporate records unchanged. Summary Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev says issuer consent should depend on rights created, not blockchain technology. Robinhood describes stock tokens as separate instruments backed one-for-one by freely transferable underlying public shares. Token holders receive economic exposure but do not enter the referenced company’s shareholder register directly. AMC says it never authorized Robinhood’s product and threatened legal and regulatory action against it. No court or SEC ruling has settled whether Robinhood’s structure requires consent from referenced issuers. Tenev said in a Sept. 11 post that issuer consent should depend on the legal structure of a tokenized product, not its use of blockchain technology. His statement followed public objections from AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron over a Robinhood token linked to AMC shares. Robinhood’s product is not an AMC share recorded on a blockchain. The company identifies its Stock Tokens as debt securities issued by Robinhood Assets (Jersey) Limited...