The long-running legal battle between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple is one step closer to an end with the Commission’s latest filing. The court is expected to give its judgment soon enough, as both parties have filed all necessary briefs.
What The SEC’s Latest Filing Is About
The Commission filed a letter in opposition to Ripple’s motion to seal certain documents related to the remedies stage. In line with an earlier report, the SEC noted that they weren’t opposing Ripple’s requests in its entirety. For the opposed redactions, the Commission argued that the crypto firm had failed to “overcome the strong presumption that court filings should be public.”
The regulator mentioned that the materials they oppose a redaction are “fundamental to the rationale behind the SEC’s requested remedies.” The SEC further noted that Ripple had invited the public to form an opinion about the merits of the Commission’s positions. As such, the crypto firm cannot “simultaneously hide” from the public the evidence on which the SEC’s position is based.
Furthermore, the SEC claimed that Ripple’s argument that failure to redact these documents could harm its business doesn’t eliminate the burden of proof on the crypto firm to show “exceptional circumstances” that justify sealing or redacting. Ripple had also cited earlier instances in the case where the court agreed to certain requests for sealing and redactions.
However, the Commission claims it doesn’t “justify” Ripple’s requests as it tried to differentiate those earlier events from the case at hand. Firstly, they noted that the court’s earlier rulings regarding redactions were “in the context of specific filings, not for the rest of the case.” Unlike then, the financial information and offering terms the firm seeks to seal “is now at the crux of the remedies decision,” the SEC remarked.
Secondly, the SEC argued that the documents that Ripple seeks to seal are ones which it would have been legally mandated to disclose in the first place since the court had already ruled that the firm’s institutional sales were investment contracts. Lastly, the Commission argued that these documents were already “stale” and there was no need to hide them.
When Is A Final Judgment Expected For Ripple?
Judge Analisa Torres is expected to give her final judgment soon enough since both parties have filed all their respective briefs according to the scheduling order. However, before then, the Judge will need to rule on Ripple’s sealing motion and decide whether or not the crypto firm’s financial information should be made public.
Following the ruling, Ripple will have fourteen days to file a public or redacted version (depending on the court’s ruling) of the documents in question. After this has been done, the court can then proceed to give its final judgment. The SEC has proposed that Judge Torres order a fine against Ripple summing up to almost $2 billion.
Meanwhile, Ripple has opposed the proposed remedies and asked that the court limit any proposed fine to just $10 million.
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