The trading industry is closely watching the SEC v. Ripple lawsuit. Its outcome is expected to create a meaningful precedent for future regulatory enforcement and legal defenses. Is XRP a security or not?
It is possible that this lawsuit will fail to provide that answer as it seems that Ripple Labs wants to push for a Summary Judgement on its lack of due process and fair notice affirmative defense.
If accepted, that hearing should happen even before the hearing regarding the nature of XRP. That would mean no regulatory clarity, but with a precedent that would allow any future defendant in a similar lawsuit to claim they had no fair notice from the SEC.
A lot will happen before that. So what’s next on the agenda?
May 25: Ripple Labs will file its response to the SEC’s motion for a discovery conference concerning privileged materials.
May 27: The SEC will reply to Ripple’s opposition brief to the SEC’s motion to strike Ripple’s Lack of Due Process and Fair Notice affirmative defense.
May 27: The SEC’s combined Letter Motion to Seal the non-public SEC correspondence contained in Ripple’s opposition to the motion to strike and in opposition to Ripple’s Motion to Seal the legal memoranda.
May 28: The SEC’s reply to Ripple’s response to the SEC’s May 18, 2021 letter motion, filed under seal, for a discovery conference concerning privileged materials.
June 4: Brad Garlinghouse’s and Chris Larsen’s reply to the SEC’s opposition brief to their motion to dismiss.
June 10: Ripple’s response to the SEC’s motion to seal the non-public SEC correspondence contained in Ripple Labs’ opposition to the motion to strike.
The agenda, taken from Connecticut-based attorney James K. Filan’s twitter account, also points out that the court is still to decide on “whether there will be an oral argument on the motion to intervene; on the motion to intervene itself; and on the SEC’s motion to compel Ripple to turn over documents regarding legal advice Ripple received about whether sales or offers of XRP were securities”.
