Ripple ordered to turn over financial statements by judge

The Securities and Exchange Commission won a motion in its case against Ripple.

Judge Sarah Netburn ordered Ripple to produce its financial statements for 2022-2023. 

“At this stage, the Court sees no basis to short-circuit that inquiry by denying access to readily available information that may be probative to the remedy stage,” Netburn wrote.

Additionally, Ripple will have to produce its post-complaint contracts. 

“The Court is not convinced that the production of these contracts will result in an improper or costly ‘mini-trial,’” Netburn said.

And finally, Ripple will also have to produce the institutional XRP sales proceeds that happened after the filing of the SEC’s complaint.

Read more: Ripple, SEC argue to the very end of years-long legal battle

“Ripple appears to agree with this statement of law but contends that its contracts did not obligate the parties to any clear transaction. The controversy before this Court is whether to order Ripple to answer this interrogatory and not what weight to assign to Ripple’s response,” the filing said. 

“Because the SEC has made a sufficient showing that this information may assist the Court in fashioning its remedy, Ripple must respond to the Interrogatory.”

The SEC previously argued that the documentation from Ripple would help to determine possible injunctions and civil penalties.

Ripple previously filed a response, saying the request was “untimely” and argued that the SEC’s actions are “irrelevant” since the information is not needed for any Court-determined remedies. 

The court has a Feb. 12 deadline for discovery related to the potential remedy of the suit. Late last year, the SEC moved to dismiss charges against Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Christian Larsen. Ripple, however, was a defendant in the suit but not part of the now-canceled trial.

The SEC and Ripple have been locked in a legal battle since 2020 when the regulator alleged that Ripple Labs conducted an unregistered securities offering worth $1.3 billion. 

Last summer, a judge granted both the SEC and Ripple wins in the case when Judge Analisa Torres determined that the institutional sales of the token XRP constituted a securities offering, but the programmatic sales did not.

Ripple declined to comment on the ruling. 

Updated Feb. 5, 2024 at 4:28 pm ET: Added comment from Ripple.

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