Journalist Shares Insights into Senior SEC Officials’ Comments on Hinman’s Speech

Eleanor Terrett, a journalist at the American business news channel Fox Business, threw light on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officials’ comment on the controversial Hinman document as having “the less detail the better”. She also highlighted the statement of the former director of Trading and Markets Brett Redfearn, in which he stated that the speech could lead to “greater confusion on what is a security”.

On June 13, Terret took to Twitter to share insights on the matter:

The journalist posted a screenshot on her Twitter page, highlighting the senior SEC official’s statement which asserted that the confusion on the definition of security arises as Hinman’s new test “go[es[ beyond the typical Howey analysis”.

The XRP attorney John Deaton, on June 11, came forward with Redfearn’s previous comments regarding William Hinman’s speech. Redfearn warned that the speech would lead to “greater confusion” by providing “less detail”. Though Deaton’s screenshot of Redfearn’s statement has hidden the specific words, a Ripple staff Neil Hartner later shared a clear picture, highlighting those words.

In a later post, Deaton, as a sequel to his previous tweet, affirmed that the Hinman documents would likely help Ripple and Coinbase, adding:

The emails won’t change the Howey analysis but they will likely show the difficulty in applying 1930s/40s precedent to modern day technology. The emails will likely help Coinbase and Ripple in the Court of Public Opinion and hopefully drive bipartisan efforts in Congress.

Terrett has also showcased the comments from the Trading and Markets Department regarding Hinman’s speech. The department cited that the “speech is what the general public/market participants have been asking for”, indicating that the department would be supportive of the speech. In a later tweet, Terrett provided the link to the complete document.