The New York District Court ordered the SEC to hand over 14 documents to Ripple, including records by former CFO William Hinman.
Judge Sarah Netburn at a hearing in the Southern District of New York January 13
decidedthat the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) should give Ripple an email with a draft of William Hinman’s speech on whether Ether is a security.
This court order came out as part of a lawsuit between the SEC and Ripple. The Commission and Ripple are involved in a lengthy dispute over what documents should be available in the course of the investigation. Ripple lawyers, busy gathering documents that clarify internal communications and SEC policies regarding cryptocurrencies in order to protect the rights of their client, insist on providing them. SEC lawyers have long refused to provide these documents, arguing that they are not subject to disclosure.
The court order ordered the regulator to hand over documents relating not only to internal correspondence of SEC employees, but also some records from meetings between SEC employees and third parties that are not protected from publication.
Ripple General Counsel Stu Alderoty is confident that the documents obtained will help win the case.
“We are pleased with the court order granting Ripple access to important documents that the SEC has been hiding. We will continue to actively protect our client and remain optimistic that the decision will bring much needed clarity to the industry.”
In total, Ripple requested access to 14 records and three additional documents, including a draft speech from 2018 by William Hinman, a former SEC chief financial officer. The official said at the conference that, ether is not a security, and from that moment on, the asset is perceived as a commodity. However, he stated that this is his personal opinion. The judge considers that the personal views of agency employees are not confidential, unless they are related to the formulation or implementation of agency policy, and therefore can be provided at the request of the defendant.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in November 2021 that he sees progress in the SEC litigation and suggested that it could end as early as next year. In December, the anti-corruption organization Empower Oversight accused the SEC of non-compliance with the freedom of information law and sent a request to the SEC for information about former senior SEC official William Hinman. The Commission refused to provide these documents. Recall that back in August, Empower Oversight initiated an investigation against Hinman.
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