A federal judge has ruled that Ripple must disclose its financial records and details of its XRP sales in an SEC lawsuit over its unregistered securities offering.
Judge Sarah Netburn ruled in favor of the SEC and ordered Ripple to release its 2022-2023 financial statements. The decision aims to shed light on Ripple’s financial transactions and the impact of its contracts and institutional XRP sales following the complaint on the outcome of the case.
“At this stage, the court believes there is no basis to halt the investigation by denying access to readily available information that could serve as evidence at the redress stage,” Netburn said.
Ripple will also be required to produce documents related to the contract and proceeds from institutional XRP sales, following the SEC’s filing of the complaint. The court refuted Ripple’s concerns about the potential for a mini-trial and emphasized the importance of these documents in determining appropriate injunctions and civil penalties.
“Ripple should respond to the interrogatories because the SEC has sufficiently demonstrated that this information could help the court seek relief,” Netburn said.
The guidance is part of a broader legal conflict that began in 2020 when the SEC accused Ripple Labs of executing an unregistered securities offering worth $1.3 billion. Despite Ripple’s claims that the SEC’s request was “untimely” and “inappropriate,” the court set a discovery deadline of February 12 regarding potential remedies in the case.
The case has resulted in various rulings, including one issued by Judge Analisa Torres in July 2023. The decision ruled that Ripple’s institutional sale of XRP constituted a securities offering, but the programmatic sale did not.