US SEC seeks $2 billion from Ripple Labs, chief legal officer says
Source: Reuters
March 25, 2024 4:52 PM EDT
March 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking fines and penalties totaling $2 billion in its case against Ripple Labs over sales of the cryptocurrency XRP, the company's chief legal officer said in a social media post on Monday.
In posts on X, Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty said the regulator has asked U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan for the penalties in court papers filed under seal. The SEC was scheduled to file the documents publicly with redactions on Tuesday.
"Rather than faithfully apply the law, the SEC remains bent on wanting to punish and intimidate Ripple - and the industry at large," Alderoty said. A spokesperson for the SEC declined to comment. Torres ruled in July that the blockchain company's sale of XRP worth $728.9 million to hedge funds and other sophisticated buyers amounted to unlawful sales of unregistered securities. Ripple is scheduled to file a reply in April.
The SEC sued Ripple, its CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen in 2020, accusing them of illegally raising more than $1.3 billion in an unregistered securities offering by selling XRP. The SEC dropped its remaining claims against Garlinghouse and Larsen in October. he case has been highly watched, as it is among the biggest brought by the SEC in the cryptocurrency space.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/sec-seeking-2-billion-ripple-labs-chief-legal-officer-says-2024-03-25/