Judge Analisa Torres has granted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the request to file an interlocutory appeal in its lawsuit against Ripple Labs.
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Fast facts
- Interlocutory appeals occur before all claims related to all parties are resolved and are only allowed under specific circumstances.
- In this case, the SEC can file a motion by Aug. 18 to request permission to bring a case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Ripple Labs can also file an opposition to the agency’s motion.
- Torres, a district judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York who presides over the case, granted the SEC’s appeal approximately a month after Ripple’s partial victory in its lawsuit where she ruled that Ripple’s institutional XRP sales to violated securities laws, but public sales on exchanges did not.
- “The request for appeal (even if granted) doesn’t change the fact that XRP is not a security. That’s not up for debate/trial. But the SEC continues to claim that Chris and I acted recklessly in believing that XRP is not a security. That’s utter nonsense,” Brad Garlinghouse, the chief executive officer of Ripple Labs, tweeted on Thursday.
- The SEC sued Ripple in December 2020, alleging that the company was offering an unregistered security.
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