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16 Aug, 7 tweets, 4 min read
🚨BREAKING: Govt watchdog group files lengthy FOIA request demanding access to internal @SECGov documents and records targeting Jay Clayton, William Hinman and Marc Berger over "potential conflicts of interest" on crypto while in office (1/7) 👇empowr.us/empower-oversi…
(2/7) "We write today seeking information regarding the appearance of conflicts of interest by former high-level officials at the SEC relating to cryptocurrencies. It is in the public’s interest that the government’s emerging regulatory approach to cryptocurrencies is based on.."
(3/7) "...objective legal principles, without the appearance that conflicted SEC officials may be picking cryptocurrency winners and losers based on personal financial interests. The way in which these former SEC officials declared whether particular cryptocurrencies..."
(4/7) "were securities—and thus subject to SEC regulation —raises public integrity concerns ... Transparency from the SEC is the only way to ensure accountability to the public. In light of this, we are filing this FOIA request to seek the facts."
(5/7) @EMPOWR_us letter demands a wide range of records and communications from @SECGov between Hinman, Clayton, Berger and outside entities like Simpson Thacher, One River, @EntEthAlliance
(6/7) The FOIA letter also seeks records of any discussions between the target officials and SEC Office of Ethics Counsel about their potential employment or, in Hinman's case, "continued payments from Simpson Thacher" during his SEC employment.
(7/7) @EMPOWR_us cites Hinman's speech on $ETH, Clayton's comments on #BTC, the lawsuit against @Ripple and the crash of #XRP, and their lucrative employment immediately following the @SECGov.
🚨Read the FOIA letter here 👇
empowr.us/wp-content/upl…

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More from @CryptoLawUS

CryptoLaw Profile picture
15 Jul
NETBURN HEARING: As it heads to adjournment, @Ripple counsel angrily tells Netburn the SEC is "withholding every part of every internal memorandum" citing privilege and its position is "untenable" and "prejudicing" the defense, and the judge should be aware
The SEC is throwing "deliberative privilege" over "everything they don't want to share" and Netburn should not be surprised if it happens over scope of Hinman deposition.
The SEC "disagrees" with Ripple's statement, and then confirms it's entirely true. Netburn urges the parties to resolve what Ripple's counsel raised. @chrislarsensf's counsel asks Netburn for guidance to tamp down SEC's sweeping privilege claims at every step.
Read 5 tweets
CryptoLaw Profile picture
15 Jul
BREAKING: NETBURN ORDERS HINMAN TO BE DEPOSED.
"This is not a run of the mill enforcement case by the @SEC_Enforcement" and "expressly finds" @ripple case is unique and the public interest in resolution of this case is substantial.
@SEC_Enforcement @Ripple Netburn states she is "very much disinclined" to have Hinman sitting twice, notes that the SEC will likely direct Hinman not to answer much of the questions but urges the parties to work out scope in advance to avoid this, and return to her if they fail to agree.
Read 5 tweets
CryptoLaw Profile picture
15 Jul
HEARING: Judge Netburn calls Hinman's 2018 #ETH speech "the central question" of this hearing. She called the SEC's bluff by essentially asking - if it was just his personal opinion, why can't he sit for a deposition and answer questions about it?
SEC denies "any such tension exists" even though SEC staff participated in the drafting of the speech and it was all "pre-decisional" -- which is where Netburn stopped the SEC lawyer to say, "Pre-decisional? That means a decision was made...."
The SEC argues that the agency does not "speak" through its staff or individual commissioners but only through no action letters or enforcement actions, so anything Hinman ever said is privileged as "deliberative". Netburn pauses for a long time.
Read 19 tweets
CryptoLaw Profile picture
14 Jul
SEC Commissioners @HesterPeirce & Elad Roisman issue statement on @coinschedule settlement to slam SEC for again not specifying how it determines whether coins are securities or not. They also question the Howey Test as the be-all, end-all standard (1/4)👇sec.gov/news/public-st…
(2/4) Omitting specificity on coins' status in the Coinschedule settlement was "symptomatic of our reluctance to provide additional guidance about how to determine whether a token is being sold as part of a securities offering or which tokens are securities."
(3/4) Howey Test "is helpful, but, often, including with respect to many digital assets, the application of the test is not crystal clear" and market participants & their lawyers struggle to know what @SEC_Enforcement will do.
Read 4 tweets
CryptoLaw Profile picture
2 Jul
JUST ADDED to our Document Library:
✅@Ripple, @bgarlinghouse & @chrislarsensf Response Opposing @SEC_Enforcement's Motion to Quash Hinman Subpoena for Deposition (1/8) 👇
crypto-law.us/wp-content/upl…
(2/8) Defendants argue that Hinman himself said his infamous "#ETH-is-not-a-security" speech was "newsworthy. And those watching and listening agreed. The price of ether skyrocketed immediately after the speech..."
(3/8)"Many have since described the speech as setting forth a new standard separate from, or additional to, Howey. Multiple currency exchanges decided to list #XRP after the speech, suggesting it gave comfort that offers and sales of XRP did not run afoul of the securities laws."
Read 8 tweets
CryptoLaw Profile picture
4 May
"We need a regulatory framework that builds on this growth, not one that squanders it. Two regulatory actions in December indicate that Washington doesn’t understand that." (1/6) by @KiteVC via @MorningConsult
morningconsult.com/opinions/crypt…
(2/6) "The @SEC_Enforcement sued @Ripple, the inventor of the #XRP token, claiming that the cryptocurrency was an unregistered security when they sold it. Many say the lawsuit reflects a failure to understand the nature of cryptocurrencies and the networks on which they operate."
(3/6) "The @USTreasury also proposed a set of rules for self-hosted wallets that U.S. cryptocurrency exchanges say could put them out of business. The backdrop of all of this is an $84T global economy struggling against negative growth, carrying $270T trillion in debt.."
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