The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has another week left to explain to a federal judge in Utah why it made a series of “false or misleading” statements in its case against a cryptocurrency startup called DEBT Box.
Judge Robert J. Shelby; Chief Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Utah; Granted the regulator’s request for additional time to respond to the court’s order. Now until December 21st.
last week shelby Bespeak The SEC explains its announcement while attempting to enforce and maintain a temporary restraining order against DEBT Box. The SEC claimed the company tried to move assets overseas to escape the regulator’s jurisdiction, but the judge said some of the evidence cited last week may include:“It is materially false and misleading.”
Shelby ordered the SEC to explain why it should not sanction the attorneys and posed several questions to the SEC regarding the evidence it used to support its claims.
SEC: “We need more time”
The SEC said in a Dec. 7 statement to the court that it needed more time to prepare a response.
“The Commission takes very seriously the concerns expressed by the court in its show cause order and has undertaken steps to provide the court with thorough answers to its questions,” lawyers for the regulator wrote.
“As part of this process, a new team of attorneys, including attorneys from the Commission’s Office of General Counsel (“OGC”), has been assigned to review the cases that raised the Court’s concerns and prepare a response to the order. The new team was assigned to show cause. “To provide sufficient time to review the facts and prepare a response to the court, the Commission is requesting a short extension of seven days to file a response,” they continued.
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About the author
Anna is a senior policy reporter and assistant editor at The Block. She has a background in political journalism and has covered Russian civil society for various media outlets in Moscow, including her award-winning newspaper, Novaya Gazeta. Before joining The Block, Anna spent the last five years at CoinDesk researching global cryptocurrency policy and adoption. Anna says she owns Bitcoin and gift NFTs that have sentimental value.