Tag: Roslyn Layton

The Hinman Documents Reveal a Deceitful SEC

Posted on

By Roslyn Layton, PhD. June 13, 2023. (DC Journal).

In February, I filed a motion to intervene in SEC v. Ripple Labs, the first big crypto enforcement action filed in December 2020 by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). I have written two dozen stories about the serious implications of the case, particularly on the sweeping regulatory overreach at the heart of the SEC’s arguments and the naked power grab it represents.

The agency spent most of the last two years fighting Ripple’s attempts to obtain internal SEC emails and documents on the drafting of a 2018 speech given by then-Director of Corporation Finance William Hinman where he introduced a long list of “what we look at” when determining whether a digital asset is a security.

To Read the Full Article, click here.

Who Will Protect Investors From The SEC?

Posted on

By Roslyn Layton. December 5, 2021. (Forbes).

Last Wednesday, the current and previous chairmen of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shared what was billed as a “fireside chat” to open the Digital Asset Compliance & Marketing Summit. Gary Gensler and Jay Clayton spoke, took no questions, and agreed that the multi-trillion dollar crypto innovation space is a dark, menacing threat that legitimate crypto entrepreneurs must follow opaque rules or face crippling SEC lawsuits. Gensler made it clear that there is no difference between “fraudsters” and “good-faith actors” in crypto – both are lawbreakers endangering the public.

Many in the audience of crypto industry leaders, just maligned as crooks, were stunned. Gensler repeatedly said that “platforms need to come in and get registered,” as if everyone knew what he was talking about. Perianne Boring, the head of the Digital Chamber of Commerce tweeted, “People in the room are looking around and asking, “register as what?””

It’s a fair question given that the exchange Coinbase – the only crypto company to have gone public on the stock market – tried “going in”. Upon sharing to share its lending platform information, the SEC slapped Coinbase with a subpoena and the threat of what Gensler affectionately calls “the enforcement tool.”

Read the Full Article Here.

The SEC’s Fair Notice Farce, Starring William Hinman

Posted on

By Roslyn Layton. July 19, 2021. (Forbes)

Covering the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) ill-conceived enforcement action against Ripple Labs is never dull, and last week offered another development in the case. When the agency accused the San Francisco-based software company of seven years of unregistered securities trades by its distribution of the XRP digital currency, it unwittingly opened the door to replacing the SEC’s antiquated Howey Test for defining securities. Moreover, it appears that the judge agrees with the defense’s argument that the SEC failed to provide fair notice to Ripple (or any market participant) that XRP was, in the agency’s view, a security since 2013.

Throughout the pre-trial phase of the case, Ripple’s legal team has demonstrated that the SEC denied fair notice not just on XRP, but cryptocurrencies in general. When Ripple filed an intention to present a fair notice defense, the SEC launched a series of desperate filings to stop Ripple, knowing that if that defense is permitted, the trial case against Ripple will be dead on arrival.

Read the Full Article Here.

SEC Assault On Ripple Provokes Wider Debate

Posted on

By Roslyn Layton. June 30, 2021. (Forbes)

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) bombshell lawsuit against fintech startup Ripple Labs is now a cause célèbre in the cryptocurrency community, but its sweeping implications about regulatory overreach against innovation is provoking principled debates in some of the country’s most influential policy circles. The Federalist Society’s Regulatory Transparency Program (RTP), an organization dedicated to fostering discussion and understanding of regulation, featured experts in an event titled SEC v. Ripple Labs: Cryptocurrency and “Regulation by Enforcement” last week.

In December, the SEC sued Ripple and two of its top executives for seven years of distributions of the cryptocurrency XRP which the agency labeled as illegal unregistered securities trades. Ripple offers a global payments platform for some 2 million users worldwide for the XRP token and its fully decentralized ledger. The company ferociously disputes the allegations by making clear that the regulatory agency allowed billions of XRP tokens to circulate freely on global cryptocurrency exchanges for seven years without making such a determination, despite being asked in public and in private for that specific clarity for years. The SEC also alleges that XRP’s only utility is to be an investment contract in Ripple and that all XRP holders depend on Ripple’s actions to obtain a return on their holdings. The suit seeks to enjoin the registration of XRP as a security and preclude Ripple’s executives from participation in the market. 

Read the Full Article Here.

SEC v. Ripple Labs: Cryptocurrency and “Regulation by Enforcement”

Posted on

Check out The Federalist Society’s Regulatory Transparency Project’s Deep Dive podcast featuring John Berlau, John Deaton, Carol Goforth, and Roslyn Layton on YouTube. The four, hosted by Curt Levey, discuss the ongoing lawsuit and its potential impacts.

Since Chairman Patrick McHenry threatened to SUBPOENA Gary Gensler for NON-COMPLIANCE with Congressional oversight.

CONNECT TO CONGRESS!

ACT NOW!