SEC Eyes Reparations Against Ripple’s Institutional Violations

Ripple Labs Inc. and its community might be in a celebratory mode at the moment regarding the dropped charges against its executives Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but the regulator still has a win to boast of, as shown in a letter it sent to Judge Analisa Torres officially acknowledging the dismissal of the charges.

While the SEC said in the letter that the anticipated trial slated for April would not be necessary anymore, it mentioned the aspect of the July 13 ruling that shows Ripple Labs actually violated securities laws, per its sales of XRP to institutional investors. Drawing on this, the SEC said it hopes to meet with Ripple and explore potential remedies as concerns this aspect of the ruling.

However, the regulator said in the letter that it hopes to reach a favorable resolution by Nov. 9.

The regulator noted that should that not be the case, it will pursue a briefing with the court on a contested basis. The resolution being pursued by the regulator might entail a settlement that might run into the millions of dollars, in addition to the legal bills incurred over the past few years in the case.

Ripple and XRP taking win for now

While Ripple executives have hinted to the community that the current win does not connote a settlement, this option cannot be ruled out from the entire case. For now, the firm is choosing to hang on tight to its two major wins since July 13.

First, Judge Torres noted that programmatic sales of XRP on secondary trading platforms do not constitute securities. This ruling has helped reposition XRP as an asset worth embracing, not just by members of the community but by exchanges and other service providers operating in the industry.