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A year ago On December 22, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Ripple and its executives, declaring XRP as an unregistered security, and the company, its director Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen, in illegal sales worth more than $ 1.3 billion. XRP price plummeted 60% in just two days.
And now, after a year of discussions, there are still no concrete conclusions. The case got stuck at the stage where Ripple asked the SEC for documents to understand how it determined that Bitcoin and Ether are not securities, but XRP is. The Commission believes that it is not obligated to provide these documents as they are protected by the deliberative process privilege (DPP).
Deliberative Process Privilege (DPP) is a principle of law that allows the regulator to refuse to disclose documents or testify, citing confidentiality of data and sources.
The dispute over the application of this principle by the Commission has been going on for several months. The company, however, claims that these documents reveal the controversial nature of the SEC’s decision-making, which could help prove that the authorities did not provide Ripple with fair notice that XRP is considered a security – one of the main defense arguments.
The case is currently at the stage of expert investigation.where each party exchanges expert reports expressing opinions on various aspects of the case. In response to a request from the Securities and Exchange Commission for an extension, the court ruled that the examination would be completed by January 19, 2022.
Expert discovery based on the testimony of 16 experts will be the key to understanding all the intricacies of the digital asset space. This, combined with the fact-finding documents, will serve as the basis for future decisions, as Ripple believes that fair notice protection will benefit.
Attorney Jeremy Hogan believes that this number of experts means Ripple leaves no problem without a seasoned eye. The experts will give their views on all technical issues of the registry, jurisdictional issues, maybe even on “fair notice” issues.
Sixteen expert witnesses in SEC v. Ripple. That is A LOT!
I would say that means Ripple is not letting any issue go «un-experted.» Ledger tech issues, jurisdictional issues, maybe even «fair notice» issues will all have experts give opinions. https://t.co/U2F9SwMY1I
— Jeremy Hogan (@attorneyjeremy1) December 11, 2021
#happening #court
