A New York Court has blocked the Securities and Exchange Commission from gaining access to Ripple Labs Inc.’s discussions with its lawyers, CoinTelegraph reported.
- A ruling by Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn of the District Court of the Southern District of New York cited attorney-client privilege.
- The SEC on May 7 filed a motion to force Ripple to produce all communications with its legal team regarding sales of XRP and the federal securities laws covering it.
- The SEC said Ripple could have been conscious of the fact that XRP could be a form of security even before its token sale in 2013.
- Netburn noted that Ripple did not waive its attorney-client privilege, which encourages “full and frank communication” between legal teams and their clients.
- The SEC in 2020 alleged that Ripple and its officials offered $1.3 billion in unregistered securities through its XRP offering, but Ripple argued the regulator did not provide fair notice.
- Netburn said the corporate regulator can renew its motion if Ripple would raise its beliefs or back its fair notice defense with privileged communications.
- Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse last week said the firm plans to go public once the case is resolved.
XRP/USD is up 13.49%.
