SEC Files Motion to Exclude Testimonies of 10 Ripple Experts

The SEC has filed an omnibus motion to exclude the testimonies of 10 Ripple experts in the ongoing lawsuit.

The Securities and Exchange Commission noted that the expert’s opinions should be excluded because they have nothing to do with the three prongs of the Howey test.

“Defendants and their experts ignore Howey and controlling precedent and instead ask the Court to decide the question of whether Defendants offered and sold XRP as part of investment contracts by looking to other legal regimes or to facts that courts have repeatedly held are irrelevant to the Howey analysis,” the SEC noted.

#XRPCommunity #SECGov v. #Ripple #XRP The SEC has filed a Motion to Preclude the Testimony of the Ripple Defendants' Expert.https://t.co/oJlpX75YRF

— James K. Filan ???? 126k (beware of imposters) (@FilanLaw) January 14, 2023

Some of Ripple’s experts the SEC wants to include their testimonies include Professor Alan Schwartz, Peter Adriaens, Allen Ferrell, and Carol Osler.

The SEC asked the court to exclude the testimony of Professor Schwartz for purportedly reviewing some of the contracts through which Ripple offered and sold XRP to determine whether the written contracts meet the Howey test.

“Schwartz’s opinions should be excluded because contract interpretation is an inappropriate subject for expert testimony,” the SEC said.

Furthermore, the SEC also requested that the court exclude the testimonies of Adriaens, Ferrell, and Osler, who stated in their reports that XRP has other uses other than investment purposes.

Per the SEC, the existence of use does not advance the Howey inquiry because different courts have continually held that items that have actual use can still be sold as an investment contract.

“The relevant inquiry is not whether something has used but whether, considering the entirety of the economic inducements and realities, an investment was sold primarily for use or sold for its potential for profit,” the SEC added.