Mayor of London Sadiq Khan backs scheme to send 4x4s to Ukraine in apparent major U-turn

Published

2 years ago

December 24, 2023

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The Mayor of London has pledged his support to send 4x4s to Ukraine that would otherwise be scrapped under the city’s ULEZ scheme.

Sadiq Khan had previously blocked cars that were not ULEZ compliant from being sent to the country, saying he did not believe altering the environmental scheme for exports was possible under current laws.

But now, Mr Khan has asked Transport Secretary Mark Harper to allow Londoners – and others across the UK – to donate suitable vehicles to Ukraine through scrappage schemes.

Under the scheme’s plan, which came into force in August, Londoners with vehicles that fall foul of emission standards can claim up to £2,000 when their non-compliant vehicles are scrapped.

In a letter, jointly sent to Mr Harper by Mr Khan and former defence secretary Ben Wallace, ministers are urged to give motorists “money for taking polluting vehicles off our cities’ streets while providing vital support towards the people of Ukraine”.

“We understand there is a particular requirement for 4×4 vehicles, as well as emergency service vehicles,” it says.

Mr Khan and Mr Wallace said they had reached their conclusion following “conversations with the mayor’s office in Kyiv and other partners.”

It was previously reported by The Telegraph that Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, had written to his London counterpart to suggest the idea as part of the ULEZ scrappage scheme.

“This could be most quickly done by altering the national regulations for the Certificate of Destruction, which is required as proof that a vehicle has been permanently scrapped, to instead enable the export of suitable vehicles to Ukraine via a registered charity or national scheme,” the letter said.

“We recognise that any such change would need cross-departmental co-ordination within government, not least to ensure that any vehicles sent to Ukraine meet their needs.”

Mr Harper has since responded, saying Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has written to the mayor “seeking clarity from you on precisely what legal barriers you believe you face”.

He added in the letter that once the further information has been provided, his officials will “of course be ready to support in identifying options to resolve this matter”.

Politics

Securitize hires former PayPal exec as US tokenization gains traction

Published

40 mins ago

December 9, 2025

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Securitize hires former PayPal exec as US tokenization gains traction

Major tokenization platform Securitize has doubled down on its push to bring tokenized equity to US investors, naming a former PayPal executive as its new general counsel.

Securitize on Tuesday announced the appointment of ex-PayPal executive Jerome Roche, who led the company’s expansion into digital asset projects, including the PayPal USD (PYUSD) stablecoin.

Securitize also said its tokenized securities are already available to US investors, challenging the notion that most issuers prefer to offer such products abroad due to local stock access.

“There’s been a perception that tokenized securities must be offered primarily outside the US, but our experience shows the opposite,” Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo told Cointelegraph.

“Clear regulatory path” for tokenized stocks in the US

According to Securitize, operating real-world asset (RWA) tokenization offerings inside the US regulatory perimeter is “not only possible, but scalable, at institutional quality.”

“We’ve demonstrated that there is a clear regulatory path for issuers to natively tokenize assets for US investors,” Domingo said.

“These are not synthetic representations, or derivatives, but real securities onchain,” the CEO said, adding:

“We operate using SEC-regulated infrastructure, including a registered transfer agent broker-dealer, and fund admin, which allows US investors to access and legally hold tokenized securities in a fully compliant framework.”

Securitize’s optimistic outlook on the US tokenization comes days after the platform obtained regulatory approval to operate as an investment company and a trading ánd settlement system in the European Union on Nov. 26. According to the company, the approval positioned it as one of the first operators for regulated digital securities infrastructure in both the US and EU.

“For the first time, modern ledger technology is giving us the ability to record ownership, settle transactions, and move value in ways that are fundamentally better than the fragmented systems we’ve inherited,” Securitize’s newly appointed general counsel, Roche, said in the announcement.

“Innovation only works when it fits squarely within the guardrails of applicable law,” he added, underscoring Securitize’s global push for regulated tokenized securities.

Securitize’s news is another sign of the US warming to tokenization. On Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission dropped its investigation into rival tokenization platform Ondo Finance.

Ondo said the decision marks a new chapter for tokenized securities in the US, where they are poised to become a “core part of the capital markets.”