2022 Amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code address Emerging Technologies

Submitted by UCS on September 12, 2022

From the desk of the Uniform Law Commission:

The 2022 amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code address emerging technologies, providing updated rules for commercial transactions involving virtual currencies, distributed ledger technologies (including blockchain), artificial intelligence, and other technological developments. The amendments span almost every article of the UCC and add a new Article 12 addressing certain types of digital assets defined as “Controllable Electronic Records” (CERs). The amendments provide new default rules to govern transactions involving these new technologies and clarify the UCC’s applicability to mixed transactions involving both goods and services. The amendments also contain some miscellaneous revisions unrelated to technological developments and provided needed clarification.

The 2022 UCC amendments allow for the UCC to apply to the expanding number of transactions involving digital assets in a way that is not possible under the current UCC Articles. These amendments will allow for a security interest in a digital asset to be perfected without the complications that exist under current law. The Uniform Law Commission (“ULC”) will bring the 2022 amendments to the states soon to facilitate the state enactment process.

Click here if you would like to review the amendments as approved and recommended for enactment in all states.  The amendments were finalized at the July ULC meeting in Philadelphia.

UCS will advise when each Secretary of State begins to enact the amendments as recommended.