In the ongoing legal battle between Ripple and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ripple has shown firm opposition to the SEC’s latest discovery demands post-complaint. Ripple’s recent filing highlights this as a significant development in the high-stakes legal conflict.
While legal proceedings continue, Ripple has formally objected to the SEC’s enforcement request, challenging the post-complaint discovery demands. Specifically, the SEC has sought Ripple’s audited financial statements for 2022 and 2023 and information regarding post-complaint sales or transfers of XRP to “non-employee counterparties” and inquiries about “XRP corporate sales revenue.”
Ripple’s objections are based on the timing of these demands, claiming they are untimely. The filing emphasizes that the SEC had ample opportunity to pursue these discoveries during the open fact discovery period but chose not to. Ripple asserts there is no good cause for the SEC to enforce these demands now.
Furthermore, Ripple argues that the SEC’s discovery demands exceed the scope of resolution mechanisms and that the information sought is irrelevant to the ongoing legal proceedings. The response points out that the parties had previously litigated the appropriateness of post-complaint discovery, during which the SEC did not discuss its interest in resolution mechanisms.
Ripple emphasizes that the SEC’s demands are unreasonable, noting that on November 14, the SEC presented Ripple with nine interrogatories and three requests for production (RFPs). In response, Ripple objected in December, citing the closure of discovery, the superfluity of interrogatories allowed under Rule 33, and the irrelevance of certain demands related to post-complaint conduct.