WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th November, 2019) Tech company Telegram founded by Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov asked a US court to dismiss the lawsuit of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which banned the issuance of its cryptocurrency Gram, disputing the classification of its products as "securities," according to the court's documents.
The SEC previously sued Telegram Group Inc. over its ICO (initial coin offering) in which the company raised $1.7 billion. According to the commission, Telegram did not properly register the placement of Gram, thereby violating the US Securities Act. It asked the court to acknowledge the violation, impose penalties on the company and recover their proceeds in favor of the state.
"Defendants deny that Plaintiff is entitled to any relief, and respectfully request that the Court dismiss the claims against Defendants with prejudice and order such further relief as the Court deems just and proper," Telegram's court filing says.
The company accused the SEC of acting voluntarily in a completely new legal industry, as well as of failure to provide clear guidelines and timely present its position about what is considered a violation of the law and what is not.
Telegram also said that it had not filed any applications for registering a cybercurrency, because this was not required by law.
In October, the court delayed the consideration of the lawsuit until February. At the same time, the court upheld temporary ban on launch of the Gram cryptocurrency and the TON blockchain platform, which the regulator sought.
