The SEC has filed a motion seeking permission to seal some portion of filings that contain information identifying the SEC’s expert witness in the XRP lawsuit.
The legal battle between SEC and Ripple has been emerging for quite some days. There has been a move from the SEC as the US authority filed an objection to Ripple’s Motion to seal information related to several Ripple meetings.
The Show Goes On
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a motion seeking permission to seal some parts of the filings that contain documents identifying the SEC’s expert witnesses in the XRP lawsuit. According to lawyer James K. Filan, SEC wants to seal portions of the parties’ replies to the Exclusion Motions.
According to the document filed by the SEC, it requested to reject Ripple’s filings to seal “(i) redacted portions of the SEC’s letter motion to compel recordings of certain internal documents and (ii) the corresponding deposition excerpts submitted as exhibits to the motion.” On Friday, SEC seeks to seal a portion of filings from 30 Aug’s interview in support of the SEC’s and Ripple’s previous flings to exclude SEC expert testimony.
The document containing Ripple’s opposition stated, “The documents at issue are relevant to the judicial process in that they would reasonably have the tendency to influence the Court’s ruling on the discovery dispute before it, and no countervailing business or privacy interests outweigh their disclosure to the public.” SEC said, “The SEC’s proposed redactions are intended to protect the identities of the SEC experts.”
An Endgame For XRP Lawsuit
The briefs contain SEC’s expert witnesses who can have unmitigated results for those involved in the lawsuit. The motion to compel has been going on between SEC and Ripple for a long time. Earlier, both parties wanted to hide some information during the proceedings from the public. However, the lawsuit has now become more public, and the parties are trying hard to highlight some points against each other as part of the Motion to Compel.
Notably, the SEC filed another one-page response concerning “Motion to Compel,” regarding the recordings of Ripple’s meeting. SEC admitted that before taking any legal proceedings, it had not alerted third parties considered as securities in the XRP lawsuit. SEC stated, “The Commission admits that before the filing of this case certain third parties inquired about the legal status of XRP. However, the Commission did not state a view one way or the other in response.”
The court previously granted SEC permission to redact the names of two SEC experts. The court also said redaction is “narrowly tailored to serve interests of witness safety.” Ripple Labs made an objection to the SEC’s 22 July sealing motion. However, they did not file an application to the SEC’s motion to seal the Exclusion Motion response.
The court said, “Under the joint proposal, the Parties would further be required to file public, redacted versions of all documents within 21 days of the Court’s rulings on the omnibus sealing motions.”
Final Thoughts
SEC accused Ripple of its sale of XRP, the native token of the XRP Ledger, which was unregistered security providing worth over US$1.38 billion. Since the beginning of the XRP lawsuit in December 2020, both parties have filed several motions to verify their claims. The recent filings from both sides may lead to a quick resolution and end this lawsuit.
