The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said in a Jan. 11 filing that Ripple is expected to provide certain documents in an ongoing lawsuit.
Specifically, the securities regulator requested a court order that Ripple Labs, Inc. forced to prepare financial statements for 2022 and 2023.
The SEC also asked to compel Ripple to draw up contracts for the institutional sale of XRP following the SEC’s original complaint. It noted that Judge Analisa Torres previously identified institutional sales as unregistered sales and offerings of securities within the period prior to the complaint.
In addition, the SEC said it is seeking to have Ripple answer a single question (i.e., a formal written question) about the amount of proceeds it received from institutional sales following the filing of the SEC’s complaint, but for contracts that it entered into before the complaint.
The SEC said these two sets of documents and the hearing will help Judge Torres determine whether the court should impose damages, including injunctive relief and civil penalties, as well as the amount of civil penalties that may be applied.
Ripple argues that it should not face court orders because its future XRP sales are exempt from registration and securities laws. The SEC has countered this by claiming that the financial information it requested is “fundamental to tailoring a penalty to deter future violations.”
SEC v. Ripple is largely settled
The SEC originally alleged that Ripple’s sale of XRP in December 2020 constituted unregistered securities offerings. Ripple achieved a partial victory in July 2023 when Judge Torres ruled that certain sales (including programmatic and exchange sales) were not securities offerings. However, Judge Torres also ruled that Ripple’s institutional sales were securities offerings, in favor of the SEC.
The dispute was resolved in October 2023 when the SEC dropped charges against two Ripple executives. The case was largely concluded in December 2023 when Judge Torres issued summary judgment on certain remaining matters.
Despite the recentness of the SEC’s decision to request new information, previous reports noted that the court could impose fines on Ripple.
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