The remedies litigation in the legal tussle between the U.S. SEC and Ripple intensifies as the defendant seeks permission to file a sur-reply to the regulator’s motion to compel.
Ripple has filed a new motion seeking permission to file a sur-reply regarding the SEC’s motion to compel. As usual, the recent development in the SEC v. Ripple lawsuit was shared by seasoned lawyer James K. Filan.
#XRPCommunity #SECGov v. #Ripple #XRP Ripple has filed a Motion to File a Sur-Reply regarding the SEC’s Motion to Compel. The proposed sur-reply is attached.https://t.co/VhHp5lFO1x
— James K. Filan 🇺🇸🇮🇪 (@FilanLaw) January 24, 2024
SEC Motion to Compel
On January 23, the U.S. SEC filed a reply to support its motion to compel Ripple to produce its audited financial statements from 2022 to 2023 and post-complaint contracts governing institutional sales of XRP.
As reported earlier, the SEC referred to Ripple’s arguments as false, emphasizing that the records it seeks would help it present relevant facts in the remedies litigation.
Ripple Seeks Permission to File Sur-Reply
Following the SEC’s reply, Ripple filed a motion in the late hours of yesterday, asking Magistrate Sarah Netburn to allow it to file a sur-reply. Interestingly, Ripple attached the sur-reply to the motion in anticipation of the court’s approval.
According to the filing, the sur-reply intends to correct major fact misrepresentations presented by the SEC in its latest reply. Ripple said the SEC made a false claim, stating that its argument did not specify that it would be burdened by producing the post-complaint contracts.
Furthermore, Ripple said the SEC doubled down on its misstatement, asserting that it recently produced all XRP sales contracts from 2020 to 2023 in the Zakinov class action.
“Ripple did not produce any contracts post-dating December 22, 2020 in Zakinov. Nor did Ripple ‘catalogue’ these contracts in connection with the class action litigation,” it added.
SEC Discovery Request Extends Beyond Institutional Sales
The XRP-affiliated company stated that the SEC’s discovery request extends beyond its institutional sales of XRP to other distributions. For instance, Ripple specified that the post-contracts the SEC seeks also include XRP-related grants and donations.
Notably, these transactions relate to other distributions, which the court ruled as non-investment contracts in July 2023.
“The Court should disregard these misstatements of fact raised for the first time in the SEC’s reply,” Ripple added.
It is now left for Magistrate Netburn to decide whether to grant Ripple’s sur-reply. Additionally, the magistrate will determine whether to rule in Ripple’s or the SEC’s favor.
A favorable ruling for the SEC suggests that the court will compel Ripple to produce the post-complaint contracts relating to institutional sales and audited financial statements from 2022 to 2023.
However, if the court rules in Ripple’s favor, the company will not be compelled to produce these records.
In the meantime, the case is still in the remedies-related discovery phase, slated to end on February 12. From March 13 to April 29, the parties will submit their respective briefs in relation to the remedies proceeding.
