The American regulator, SEC, and the executives of Ripple Labs agreed on the time frame to provide arguments in favor of the motion to close the lawsuit.
March 14, 2021 | AtoZ Markets – Attorney James K. Filan posted on Twitter a copy of the letter submitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the Southern District of New York.
#SEC v. #Ripple #XRPCommunity @sentosumosaba Briefing schedule for motions to dismiss agreed upon and proposed by parties. pic.twitter.com/5LFMrjigCh
— James K. Filan (@FilanLaw) March 13, 2021
Filan represents former Ripple CEO Christian Larsen and current CEO Brad Garlinghouse in a case against the SEC. In the letter, the parties inform the court that they have agreed on the proposed dates for the submission of arguments regarding the defendants' motions to discontinue the case.
In particular, they ask the court to approve the following schedule. The defendants' attorneys send the Introductory Explanatory Notes to the case by April 12, the SEC - May 14. Then the defense will have a response time until June 4.
These dates refer only to the motion to discontinue the case filed by the defendants in court. In fact, these are the first rounds, but they give an idea of how long the whole trial can take. Short answer: for a long time.
Are there loopholes?
There is a possibility that the parties will settle the case out of court. In January, SEC Commissioner Esther Pearce noted that the Commission usually resolves such cases out of court.
However, there is no guarantee that Ripple and the SEC will be able to agree this time. Even if this happens, it will not be until the summer of 2021.
Ripple under pressure
As a reminder, the SEC officially filed charges against CEOs and directly against Ripple in December 2020. The regulator accused them of the illegal sale of unregistered securities in the amount of more than $1.3 million. Larsen and Garlinghouse are accused of selling XRP for another $600 million.
While the SEC claims XRP is a security, Ripple Labs claims XRP functions in the same way as other cryptocurrencies. Moreover, the state of New York has recognized XRP as a digital currency. And in 2015 it was approved by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
Fintech startup Ripple has suffered on several levels since the SEC filed a lawsuit against the company. Many exchanges in the US have removed XRP from their listing. Outside the United States, exchanges prohibited Americans from trading it.
Corporate clients such as Moneygram, which used XRP technology for cross-border transactions, have stopped doing so for fear of sanctions from US regulators. It doesn't matter how soon the SEC and Ripple settle the case, the damage has already been done. And a very significant one.
XRP is now ranked seventh in the ranking of cryptocurrencies with a capitalization of over $20 billion. The current rate of the coin is $0.44.
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