The US securities regulator's motion to seal the records of its internal deliberations following former director William Hinman's speech has been denied a move seen as a victory for Ripple and the crypto community.
In a speech in June 2018, the former SEC Director of Corporate Finance stated that Ether , the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, is not a security.
The SEC filed a Dec. 22 motion to seal internal emails, text messages and expert reports following Hinman's speech, arguing that its mission outweighed the "public's right" to obtain documents "unrelated" to the court's summary judgment, among others arguments. However, US District Judge Analisa Torres ruled that the documents were "judicial documents" that must be strictly presumed to be available to the public.
She added that the Hinman speech document "has a reasonable tendency to influence [the court's] decision on a motion." Judge Torres said the court also rejected the SEC's argument that the sealed documents were necessary to maintain "openness and candor" within the SEC , stating: "Hinman speech papers are not covered by deliberative procedural privilege because they are not related to agency positions, decisions, or policies."
While the court has ruled that documents of Hinman's speech will be made public, it has granted two other requests from the SEC to redact the names and identifying information of the SEC expert and XRP investor statement, and personal and financial information about the defendant.
The court also rejected certain motions for Ripple to seal, including references linking Ripple's revenue to XRP sales and the amount of compensation offered to the trading platform, among others. Ripple sees the speech as key evidence in its ongoing legal battle with the US Secu rites and Exchange Commission, which has accused Ripple of violating US securities laws with its XRP sales. The price of XRP surged on the news, rising about 2.6 percent. It is currently trading at $0.43.
