SEC vs Ripple: SEC Files Opposition to Ripple’s Motion to Strike Expert Data

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As a seasoned crypto investor with a background in finance and law, I closely follow the ongoing legal battles within the industry that could potentially impact my investments. The recent development between Ripple Labs’ ongoing litigation with the SEC regarding XRP‘s status and the use of summary witness statements has caught my attention.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has countered Ripple Labs’ request to exclude the testimony of expert witness Andrea Fox in their ongoing XRP case. The SEC argues that Fox’s statement, known as the “Fox Declaration,” is not an unsolicited expert opinion as Ripple claims. Instead, it was elicited through the legal process.

The SEC contests this claim, arguing that the statement in question qualifies as a permissible summary witness testimony under Federal Evidence Rule 1006. This type of declaration is employed for computational purposes concerning penalties like disgorgement.

I have reviewed the latest development in the ongoing legal battle between Ripple and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC has filed its opposition to Ripple’s motion to strike new expert materials that were submitted by the latter.

— James K. Filan (@FilanLaw) April 29, 2024

SEC’s Defense of Summary Witness Use

As a crypto investor, I would explain it this way: The SEC’s objection clarifies the role of the Fox Declaration in our ongoing case. This document assists the court by providing some financial and sales records from Ripple and estimating the prejudgment interest on what the SEC deems as “ill-gotten gains.”

The majority of the data in the document comes directly from financial reports and tax records produced by Ripple.

The SEC acknowledges that the statement in question isn’t based on an award or any expert’s testimony, but rather uses mathematical calculations to provide clarity for the court regarding Ripple’s financial records.

Admissibility of Summary Evidence

As an analyst, I’d interpret the SEC’s stance as follows: They acknowledge that Ripple doesn’t challenge the mathematical accuracy in the Fox Declaration. However, Ripple argues that this declaration should be regarded as expert testimony due to its form. In rebuttal, the SEC references legal precedents stating that mere summary evidence doesn’t transform a declaration into expert opinion. They highlight cases where methods of accounting application or presentation of aggregated data didn’t upgrade a declaration to the level of an expert’s perspective.

As a researcher examining the SEC’s filing, I’ve come across an intriguing detail: despite Andrea Fox holding a professional accounting qualification, her declaration apparently does not showcase her expertise in accounting practices beyond rudimentary mathematical calculations applied to Ripple’s financial data.

As an analyst, I can tell you that Fox did not make any significant decisions concerning Ripple’s financial strategies or provide opinions on how Ripple reported their revenues and expenses. Instead, my role was to compile vast amounts of data for the court to better understand the complex information presented.

Ripple’s Prior Unsuccessful Objection

As a researcher examining the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s position, I came across an interesting point. The SEC mentioned that Judge Torres had previously dismissed identical objections from Ripple in a different case involving an SEC staff accountant’s declaration. Based on this precedent, it seems reasonable to assume that Ripple’s current objections should meet a similar fate.

The SEC asserts that no breach of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure has occurred based on their assessment. According to SEC’s evaluation, the Fox Declaration did not call for expert disclosure prior to trial since it doesn’t fit into the designated categories requiring such pretrial revelation. Consequently, Ripple should not be taken aback or disadvantaged by the submission of this summary witness statement.

As a researcher observing the cryptocurrency market, I notice that XRP‘s price has been experiencing bearish pressure lately, fluctuating between a high of $0.5183 and a low of $0.4996. At this moment, XRP is priced at $0.5183, representing a 0.67% decrease. Simultaneously, its market capitalization has dipped by 0.59%, amounting to $28,369,008,553. Meanwhile, the trading volume for XRP has seen a significant increase of 126%, reaching $1,176,508,306 within the past 24 hours.

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2024-04-30 01:40