The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) intends to request a court to impose a $2 billion fine on Ripple Labs, including penalties. This information has reached the firm’s legal representatives.
As you will see when the SEC’s brief is made public tomorrow, they ask the Judge for $2B in fines and penalties. 1/4 https://t.co/HM8dBbn7lp
— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) March 25, 2024
According to the company’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, the official statement from the agency will be released on March 26.
“Our response will be filed next month, but as we see time and again, the regulator advances false, misinterpreted, and misleading claims. They remain true to their approach,” he wrote.
In December 2020, the Commission filed a lawsuit against the firm, accusing it of selling unregistered securities in the form of XRP worth approximately $1.3 billion.
Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen were also named as defendants.
In July 2023, Judge Analisa Torres ruled in favor of Ripple. She determined that programmatic sales and other distributions of the token do not constitute an offer and sale of investment contracts.
However, according to the verdict, the sale of coins to major industry players violated U.S. securities laws.
In October, the SEC dropped charges against Garlinghouse and Larsen.
The case concerning institutional sales of XRP by the company is ongoing. In February, a district judge granted the regulator’s motion regarding the provision of Ripple’s financial information and token sales to large investors.
The SEC plans to ask the Judge for $2B in a case that involved no allegations (let alone findings) of fraud or recklessness. There is absolutely no precedent for this. We will continue to expose the SEC for what they are when we respond to this. pic.twitter.com/LdMQFQm70j
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) March 25, 2024
“The SEC plans to request $2 billion in a case that involved no allegations of fraud or recklessness (let alone findings). There is absolutely no precedent for this,” commented Garlinghouse.
In February, Ripple investors filed an updated class action lawsuit against the company, accusing it of violating securities laws.