A crypto attorney says Ripple and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are tussling over the release of expert reports.
Crypto attorney James K. Filan shares recent court documents showing the SEC is trying to shield the identities and opinions of its experts from any public scrutiny.
In a letter to Judge Analisa Torres, Ripple’s defense team says the SEC has requested to seal the identity and testimony of one of its experts and has informed the defendants that it will be requesting to seal similar information regarding three more of their experts.
Argue Ripple’s lawyers,
“The SEC’s attempt to suppress public criticisms of its experts’ opinions is particularly egregious given that none of the SEC’s expert reports is likely to contain SEC confidential information. The only confidential information in the expert reports is internal information about Ripple itself and third parties. The SEC is abusing the Protective Order (D.E. 53) in an effort to prevent criticism of its experts from reaching the public.”
Crypto legal expert Jeremy Hogan, a Ripple supporter, says the case is unique because the prosecutors are the ones trying to hide information, rather than the defendants.
“Normally in these cases, it’s the company that wants to hide things from the public! Judge Torres has shown a slant towards disclosure so I don’t think she’ll seal what the SEC hopes.”
The SEC sued Ripple in late 2020, alleging the payments firm sold XRP as an unregistered security.
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