Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn denied Ripple’s motion to prevent the US Securities and Exchange Commission from sending a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to foreign securities regulators.
Ripple Claims the SEC MoU Intends to Intimidate its Foreign Partners
As reported by Fxcryptonews, Ripple alleged that such inquiries were intended to intimidate its overseas business partners, but the judge alleged that there was “no evidence” that these inquiries were made “in bad faith”.
The defendant wanted to force the SEC to use the slow and inefficient process of the Hague Convention, but Netburn said the request for a memorandum of understanding was admissible:
“There has been no argument that the Requests exceed the scope of any governing bilateral agreement. Instead, courts have routinely rejected the proposition that the Hague Convention is the exclusive or priority means of conducting foreign discovery.”
The SEC is required to produce any documents it received under its Memorandum of Understanding but may keep privileged documents from production.
The agency announced last month that three foreign colleagues refused to provide assistance.
Ripple’s First Setback in the Battle of Discovery
The decision on foreign claims is Ripple’s first major setback in the struggle of discovery.
Last month, the judge partially approved Ripple’s motion to seek the discovery of documents related to XRP, Bitcoin and Ethereum. However, earlier this month she made it clear that Ripple cannot access the personal emails of SEC employees.
In addition, CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen have successfully blocked the SEC’s request for personal banking records.
The SEC is now trying to force Ripple to seek or obtain legal advice on the regulatory status of XRP in order to combat the defendant’s “publicity” defense.