Ripple CLO Slams SEC’s proposed $2B Fine

Ripple Chief Legal Officer (CLO) Stuart Alderoty has broken the silence on the recently filed remedies brief by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the yet-to-be-concluded XRP Lawsuit.

XRP Lawsuit: Ripple CLO Slams Unrealistic Demand

Taking to the X platform, Alderoty revealed an important detail in the remedies brief filed by the SEC in which the regulator is requesting $2 billion in fines and penalties. 

Alderoty confirmed that the blockchain payments firm will be filing its response in March, pointing to the inconsistencies of the US SEC as a regulator that “trades in statements that are false, mischaracterized and designed to mislead.” 

The Ripple CLO pointed out that the market regulator stayed true to its “form” in this filing. Stuart Alderoty said rather than faithfully apply the law, the SEC has remained bent on its push to punish and intimidate Ripple and the broader industry at large.

Alderoty said he trusts the court will approach the remedies phase fairly. Notably, Ripple and the US SEC shared a win in the XRP lawsuit in July last year when Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP traded on trading platforms to retail traders do not constitute securities. While this is a major win for the XRP community, Judge Torres ruled that the payments firm violated securities laws when it sold XRP to corporate investors.

Over the past few months, there has been a series of legal arguments related to the proceedings that will guide what the current trials will entail. One of the consensus reached by these parties is to seal any major detail in the proceedings to preserve the integrity of the negotiations.

Ripple Labs Will Still Have To Pay

When the XRP lawsuit judgment was handed down in July of last year, there was a lot of speculation on what would be required of Ripple Labs to pay a fine for the part of the law it violated.

While the $2 billion initial demand from the SEC was not unexpected by market experts, veterans like XRP holder’s lawyer John Deaton have highlighted that what the firm will pay will be considerably lower. Irrespective of how the negotiations will help lower this fine demand, Ripple Labs will still have to pay to close the case per expert insight.

Ripple has spent a lot in the XRP lawsuit with total legal bills topping $200 million as reported earlier by Coingape.