Ripple Must Share Financial Statements Requested by SEC, Court Rules

A New York judge has ordered Ripple Labs to produce certain financial statements and information on the institutional sale of XRP tokens at the request of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), court filings from Monday show.

The SEC request, made in early January, follows a pivotal judgment in the lawsuit that accuses the crypto firm of selling unregistered securities in the country. Judge Analisa Torres’ ruling last July that only Ripple’s institutional sales of XRP broke U.S. law was celebrated by the crypto industry as a victory in its efforts to clarify how regulators treat digital assets.

Having found Ripple liable for violations before the lawsuit was filed in 2020, the requested documents will aid Torres in determining whether the court should order injunctions or civil penalties for the period since then and, if warranted, decide how much, the SEC said in its request.

An order signed by Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn on Monday compels Ripple to hand over financial statements for 2022-2023 along with contracts governing institutional sales since the lawsuit was filed.

Ripple opposed the SEC’s request in a Jan. 19 filing, saying it was untimely and that the regulator had “failed to justify each of its requests on the merits.”

“The SEC’s request for irrelevant and burdensome post-complaint discovery, especially given the close of fact discovery, should be denied,” counsel for Ripple said.

Netburn granted the SEC’s request in full.