Ripple to have its cost of re-deposing Dr. Metz’s supplemental expert report covered by the SEC.
The Ripple community was dealt a minor blow earlier today after Judge Sarah Netburn denied Defendant’s motion to dismiss the SEC’s supplemental expert rebuttal report from Dr. Albert Metz.
The development led to the reopening of the discovery until May 13, 2022 to create an opportunity for Ripple and Individual Defendants to re-depose the Dr. Metz expert report.
Interestingly, the Securities and Exchange Commission did not entirely come out victorious in a recent ruling, as the court criticized the securities agency’s decision to lately file an expert testimony.
SEC Criticized and Fined
“The SEC has conducted itself improperly by serving an unauthorized supplemental report on the last day of discovery,” Judge Netburn’s ruling excerpt reads.
Based on the court’s criticism of the SEC’s action, the Securities and Exchange Commission has been ordered to cover the necessary expenses that Ripple will incur in the process of filing a motion to re-depose Dr. Metz’s expert report.
“The SEC is ordered to pay Defendants’ reasonable expenses in filing their motion to strike and re-deposing Dr. Metz,” Judge Netburn ruled.
Prior to the ruling, both the plaintiff and defendants had initially agreed to bear the cost of the expenses that may arise from submitting their respective expert reports.
However, following the SEC’s action, the agency will now have to cover expenses incurred by Ripple to re-depose Dr. Metz’s report.
Dr. Metz Expert Report
Meanwhile, Dr. Metz’s supplemental expert rebuttal report has been a major topic of discussion over the past few months.
The deadline for expert testimony submissions was initially slated for August 2021. However, due to several disputes, the deadline was moved to January 14, 2022, and further pushed to February 28, 2022.
The SEC, which had originally submitted its expert testimony, served the blockchain company with a so-called supplemental expert report from Dr. Metz on the last day of discovery on February 28, 2022.
Ripple argued that the expert report filed at the deadline was impermissible, adding that the report did not bring any new information.
The parties have filed different motions regarding the supplemental expert report, with the court finally putting the matter to rest.
As reported, the report tends to determine whether Ripple’s announcement during the sale of the XRP token, which is deemed a security by the SEC, had any economic significance on the token’s price.
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Source: https://thecryptobasic.com/2022/04/20/sec-fined-for-improper-conduct-in-ripple-lawsuit/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sec-fined-for-improper-conduct-in-ripple-lawsuit