City Bar Applauds Governor Hochul for Signing Emerging Technologies Amendments to the UCC

The New York City Bar Association (“City Bar”) commends Governor Hochul for signing A.3307-A/S.1840-A, the New York Emerging Technologies Amendments (“Amendments”) to the New York Uniform Commercial Code (“New York UCC”). This significant legislation modernizes the New York UCC to address advances in technology and digital assets, ensuring that New York remains the preferred jurisdiction for innovations in commerce and finance.

The Amendments, which include the addition of a new Article 12 (Controllable Electronic Records), will provide legal certainty for transactions involving digital assets such as electronic payment rights and create a framework for tokenized assets generally. By enacting the Amendments, New York ensures that the New York UCC keeps pace with technological innovation, reduces transactional costs, enhances efficiencies, and promotes legal certainty in commerce and finance. This modernization will also preserve New York’s leadership in commerce and finance, strengthen New York’s national and global competitiveness, and encourage multinational businesses to continue choosing New York as the preferred law and jurisdiction for commerce and finance.

“We thank Governor Hochul for signing this forward-looking legislation,” said City Bar President Muhammad U. Faridi. “The Amendments position New York to lead in the digital economy and maintain its role as the preferred law and jurisdiction for commerce and finance.”

The Amendments are the result of a multi-year collaboration between the City Bar (led by the City Bar Presidential Task Force on Artificial Intelligence) and the Uniform Law Commission, including the New York State delegation to the Uniform Law Commission.

State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, bill sponsor, said “in signing our bill today, Governor Hochul has brought New York’s Uniform Commercial Code into the modern era. As Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I appreciate that New York law often governs commercial transactions, and we must make sure that the law stays up to date with the times. By updating the UCC to address emerging technologies and remove barriers to electronic commerce, our bill ensures that New York courts will continue to hear disputes on those transactions in the decades to come. I am grateful to Assemblymember Alex Bores for passing our bill in the Assembly and to the New York City Bar for leading the coalition that ensured our bill’s passage. As New York and its economy continue to advance, so too should our law. As of today, I’m excited to say that our law governing commercial transactions now reflects our state’s technological progress.”

Assembly Member Alex Bores, bill sponsor, said “New York can’t stay the financial capital of the world if the rules for business are written for 1925, not 2025. Now, our businesses can use digital money, electronic contracts, and do business smoothly with other states. This is a win for New Yorkers, New York businesses, and our entire economy.”

“The bill, now signed by the Governor, moves New York’s commercial law into the modern age and enables New York to be competitive with other states and countries facilitating electronic commerce and new and emerging technologies. Congratulations to the Governor, the New York Legislature, and all those in New York who moved this bill forward,” said Edwin Smith, Chair of the Drafting Committee for the 2022 model Amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code, which states use to address emerging technologies in their respective UCCs.

The City Bar thanks the bill sponsors, Assembly Member Bores and Senator Hoylman-Sigal, for their support and leadership in getting the Amendments enacted.

These Amendments were a priority item on the City Bar’s 2025 New York State Legislative Agenda.

For more information on the Amendments and related resources, click here.

For a podcast on the multiyear collaboration between the City Bar (led by the City Bar Presidential Task Force on Artificial Intelligence) and the Uniform Law Commission to make this happen, click here.

About the Association
The mission of the New York City Bar Association, which was founded in 1870 and has over 20,000 members, is to equip and mobilize a diverse legal profession to practice with excellence, promote reform of the law, and uphold the rule of law and access to justice in support of a fair society and the public interest in our community, our nation, and throughout the world. www.nycbar.org.