By Solomon Odunayo
A few days ago, the general counsel at Compound, Jake Chervinsky, aired his opinion regarding the change of leadership at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and its influence on the lawsuit against Ripple, the cross-border payment firm, and its top executives, Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen.
According to the prominent crypto lawyer, the chances that Jay Clayton’s resignation has to make the lawsuit go in favor of Ripple are rather low.
He said although the newly appointed SEC chairman, Elad Roisman, is considered as a crypto-friendly official of the regulator, the optimism about the change is somewhat misguided.
“It’s extremely unlikely that changes in SEC leadership will have any impact on the Ripple case,” said Chervinsky.
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Known Crypto Mom, Hester Peirce, Has Been Silent
According to Chervinsky, the silence of the known Crypto Mom, Hester Peirce, since the lawsuit was brought to public notice, indicates that the case against Ripple will move forward independently of Jay Clayton.
He pointed out that Hester Peirce is the only one who has been voting against crypto-enforcement measures in cases that are related to cryptocurrency. So, he thinks her current silence mode implies that she likely approves of the suit.
He also emphasized that the lawsuit in question came about via the unanimous decision of four SEC commissioners. So, he thinks it is unlikely for SEC to drop the case in just a few days after a change of leadership.
He noted:
“Given Comm’r Peirce’s conspicuous silence, I’d guess the vote was unanimous in favor of filing. Regardless, the case is being prosecuted by enforcement lawyers who are here to stay.
“To clarify the point re: Comm’r Peirce, she’s often vocal when she disagrees with her colleagues on enforcement (e.g., Kik, Unikrn). That she hasn’t commented may suggest she approved. OTOH, it may be inappropriate to speak up while charges are pending, so it might mean nothing.
“Even so, she’s the only one who’s shown interest in voting not to approve crypto enforcement actions. You’ll struggle to find “no” votes other than hers.
“Even without Jay Clayton, the majority of Commissioners have still voted to approve every action the Enforcement Division’s proposed. There’s no reason to believe he was a swing vote on this. Anyway, it’d be a real shock for the SEC to bring a case & then abandon it weeks later.
“Beyond that, it’s a mistake to focus only on leadership & minimize the enforcement lawyers working the case. Jay Clayton’s name isn’t on the complaint. This comes from other high-ranking officials (Richard Best, Jorge Tenreiro, etc.) & their team, who are surely committed to it.”
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