“But Bill, we may have a complete economic interest conflict with the old company as well as a fair company. Therefore, you should not have a meeting with your old company. Even in group meetings. ”
Empower Oversight, a non-profit organization that filed a FOIA request in August 2021 on suspicion of improper conduct by SEC officials in the XRP proceedings, proves that authorities and Bill Hinman were aware of his conflict. I finally got the email and released it. Are interested.
“According to the document, the SEC Ethics Office warned former SEC employee William Hinman that he had a direct financial interest in Simpson Thatcher, but Hinman continued to meet with the company despite these warnings.” Said Empower Oversight on Twitter.
As seen in the disclosed document, Shira Minton, SEC’s ethical adviser, sent an email to Bill Hinman on January 25, 2018, stating: Simpson because you have a continuous financial benefit to the company. You are not allowed to meet them while having such a conflict. As we discussed at the briefing, we are not allowed to call them either. This is also a serious optics problem. It does not appear to grant special access to businesses of financial interest. This meeting is small enough to raise concerns. “
In an email thread, Shira Minton also replied: Therefore, you should not have a meeting with your old company. Even in group meetings. “
Hinman met with Simpson Thatcher’s partner Josh Bonnie at least three times after the warning. Hinman also met with Ethereum co-founders and investors in 2018 to declare that the digital asset Ethereum is not security, but Simpson Thatcher joined the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. Commercial use of Ethereum.
This raises the question of whether Hinman fully disclosed Simpson Thatcher’s role in Ethereum from SEC ethics officials, and whether he approved the meeting or his speech.
A DC-based independent organization “scored some special emails about Bill Hinman, who continued to the company under a criminal financial conflict with Simpson. There is a bar because of its financial interests. “It has been shown to have been warned.” James K. Filan, an XRP community member and lawyer.
“Hinman didn’t have only” retirement benefits “. He had a continuing financial interest in Simpson Thatcher’s success. The better his law firm did, the better he did. Client support = ? (EEA). Ethics told him not to meet his partner, yet he continued. He was a double agent! “John Deaton, a lawyer for the 65,000 XRP holders in the XRP proceedings, said.
Judge Sarah Netburn will soon decide on the SEC’s motion to review plaintiffs’ internal documents. Much has been said about them, and many legal experts share the suspicion that these emails and notes could destroy the SEC’s proceedings against Ripple. The email revealed by Empower Oversight focuses only on conflict of interest issues.
