U.S. SEC Can Continue Contacting Foreign Regulators Over Ripple Case

U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn has denied Ripple Labs lawyer’s motion to dismiss the Securities and Commission from sending MoU requests to foreign securities regulators for obtaining information on Ripple and XRP transactions overseas.

U.S. SEC Can Obtain Information on Ripple From Foreign Regulators

In her ruling, Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn has ordered the U.S. SEC to produce all documents obtained through MoU over information on Ripple and XRP transactions overseas.

At the time, the defendants of Ripple Labs argued the SEC is “deploying extra-judicial tactics that are not available to Defendants or other litigants and should not be available to the SEC here.”

“The MOU process involves a foreign securities regulator in the discovery process, which has a significant impact on the recipient of the requests, including Ripple’s overseas business partners, and amounts to an unwarranted intimidation tactic.” Ripple’s lawyers wrote.

Attorney Jeremy Hogan, who has been covering the lawsuit since the beginning remarked:

“The real reason the SEC uses the MOU’s is to intimidate and ruin business relationships between Defendants and the subjects of the “requests”

SEC Must Produce All Documents Obtained in MoU Requests

However, Netburn disagreed in her ruling saying “No evidence suggests that the SEC issued its Requests in bad faith.” and decided to rule in favor of SEC while ordering the regulator to produce all documents obtained in response to the requests:

“In addition, to improve transparency in the process, the SEC is ordered to produce copies of all previously served Requests within 14 days and produce any subsequent Requests within 14 days of their service. To the extent the SEC believes it has a proper claim of privilege, it must simultaneously produce a privilege log.”

Apparently, the SEC has issued 11 requests to nine foreign regulators, covering approximately 20 entities including 14 digital asset trading platforms, five companies that Ripple has said use XRP in its On-Demand Liquidity, and an investor who bought XRP directly from Ripple Labs.