In the case of SEC v. Ripple, the court has denied the request by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the personal financial records of Ripple executives who are not affiliated with XRP. The court says it is “not convinced” that personal banking records would show the offenses as claimed by the SEC.
Another win for XRP in SEC v The Ripple Case
In the lawsuit brought by the US SEC against Ripple Labs, CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and co-founder Christian Larsen over the sale of XRP tokens, the court has denied the SEC’s request to obtain personal financial records from The defendants are not affiliated with XRP. The order was signed by Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn on Friday.
“The SEC has issued Production Requests to the individual defendants seeking their personal financial records over an eight year period,” the order explains. He adds that the commission “also issued third-party subpoenas to several financial institutions where the individual defendants maintain accounts, seeking similar records.”
The order states: “Garlinghouse and Larsen are moving for a protective order to circumvent their discovery obligation and to remove the subpoenas served on SVB Financial Group, First Republic Bank, Federal Bank of New York Fund, Silver Lake Bank, Silvergate Bank, and Citibank, NO Offer approved. ”
Referring to Section 5 of the Securities Act, which states that all issuers must register non-exempt securities with the SEC, the order states:
The court is not convinced that the personal banking records would show (or even be able to show) what the SEC claims they would be – individual offenses in Section 5.
The judge also found that “the SEC has presented no evidence that individual defendants have covert transactions or that the documents produce support any conclusion of covert transactions.”
In addition, the judge explained that the motion for a protective order by Garlinghouse and Larsen is not allowed because “the court finds that the SEC’s requests for the personal financial records of the individual defendants, apart from the those records of XRP transactions already promised, relevant or commensurate with the needs of the case. “The judge further ruled that:
The SEC will withdraw its Production Requests seeking individual defendants’ personal financial records and withdraw its third-party subpoenas seeking the same.
“If, as the discovery progresses, the SEC uncovers evidence that the individual defendants have not accompanied the records of their XRP transactions, it may provide the court with such evidence and renew its application, ”The order concludes. The full court filing can be viewed here.
Ripple recently won a finding from the SEC and the commission has been ordered to produce internal records on bitcoin, ether, and XRP. Meanwhile, a petition was started asking the new SEC chairman to drop Ripple’s lawsuit and end the war on XRP.
What do you think of the judge’s ruling in favor of Ripple against the SEC over non-XRP-related personal financial records? Let us know in the comments section below.
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