In a recent legal document submitted on Friday, Ripple counters the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) request to escalate their ongoing litigation to an appellate court. The crypto firm contends that the SEC has not established adequate grounds for an appeal and insists that doing so will not expedite the case's resolution.
Ripple's pushback follows a July ruling by Judge Analisa Torres of the Southern District of New York, who determined that Ripple's XRP sales to institutional buyers were in violation of federal securities laws. However, she found no such violation concerning retail investors. The SEC is trying to overturn this ruling and needs the judge's approval to do so.
Ripple argues that Judge Torres' decision doesn't hinge on any pivotal legal questions that would merit an appeal. The company points out that for an appeal to be granted, the court must be convinced that different judges could reasonably disagree on the ruling or that an appeal would speed up the case's conclusion. According to Ripple's recent filing, the SEC has not met these criteria.
The SEC, in its August 18 appeal filing, noted that another judge from the same district, Judge Jed Rakoff, had arrived at a different conclusion in a similar case against Terraform Labs. However, Ripple distinguishes the two cases by highlighting that the facts and circumstances in each are different. Specifically, the filing states that Ripple made no guaranteed promises of returns to XRP buyers, whereas Terraform Labs did promise such returns to its investors.
The SEC now has until September 8 to reply to Ripple's recent submission, thereby adding another chapter to this unfolding legal saga.
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