Ripple discussed the SEC vs Ripple Labs lawsuit in its Q3 market performance report. The company admitted that, while the proceedings appeared to be taking their time, it would try to “expedite the case as soon as possible.”
The SEC vs. Ripple case is back in the news after the court reportedly granted the San Francisco-based blockchain company’s motion.
Only for the eyes of the court
On 30 October, defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor James K. Filan announced that the court had granted Ripple’s motion to seal the privilege logs included with its response to the SEC’s older filing, which was filed on 22 October.
2/2 documents the SEC claims are privileged, including the email chain with a third party told by the SEC to analyze its digital asset under the framework of Hinman’s speech. The decision whether the SEC has to turn over the documents it claims are privileged has not been issued.
— James K. Filan 🇺🇸🇮🇪 (@FilanLaw) October 29, 2021
Exhibit A, as previously reported, was a privilege log, while Exhibit B was a document produced during the proceedings, according to Matthew C. Solomon, Counsel for Defendant Bradley Garlinghouse. He claimed that both were designated as confidential by the SEC.
The text-only order from the court, dated October 28, stated that the defendants’ motion was “granted on an interim basis.”
“While Defendants do not currently take a position on the ultimate confidentiality of these materials, Exhibits A and B are part of “discovery materials filed with the court in connection with discovery-related disputes,” that were designated as Confidential by the producing party; they are therefore not judicial documents and are not entitled to a presumption of public access,” Solomon stated in his 22 October filing.
The SEC, on the other hand, has been steadfast in its refusal to submit three additional documents – emails from 2018 and 2019 – despite Ripple’s accusations that the regulator operates in secrecy. The SEC cited “deliberative process privilege” and irrelevance as justifications.
Ripple and his pals
Despite the fact that Ripple is embroiled in a lawsuit in its home country, the blockchain company had a more pleasant encounter with Australian regulators.
Susan Friedman, Ripple’s Head of Public Policy, tweeted that the blockchain company’s “technology-agnostic” recommendation was used in a Senate committee report on Australia’s own crypto regulatory framework. In order to encourage investments while maintaining security, Ripple suggested that regulators consider a principles-based framework and a risk-based approach.
