Jury trial in SEC v. Ripple Labs to be set for Q2 2024

Two Ripple executives named in a federal securities case have been scheduled for a jury trial, according to a court filing dated Aug. 9.

The upcoming proceedings concern Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) previously alleged that the two individuals engaged in unlawful securities offerings involving the XRP token and aided and abetted Ripple’s partially disproven regulatory violations.

The latest filing indicates that the court will conduct a jury trial for Garlinghouse and Larsen in the second quarter of 2024.

The involved parties must submit blackout dates by Aug. 23. They must also submit various other pretrial filings by Dec. 4, including motions in limine that attempt to exclude evidence from the trial. Plus, they must file any opposition to those motions in limine must by Dec. 18.

Past filings from July 13 indicate that the defendants contested whether they “knew or recklessly disregarded facts ” around securities regulations and whether they truly aided or abetted any violations on Ripple’s part. This is partly due to Ripple distancing itself from the XRP Ledger and Larsen’s changing role in the Ripple ecosystem.

The court found that “reasonable jurors” could conclude that the two executives did not commit those actions, thus granting them a jury trial.

Ripple’s victories

The SEC alleged that Garlinghouse and Larsen sold unregistered securities as part of its broader case against Ripple, which began in December 2020.

On July 13, Judge Analisa Torres granted a summary judgment on institutional sales to the SEC and a summary judgment on programmatic (or exchange) sales to Ripple, respectively. The latter ruling determined that the XRP token is not a security insofar as it was sold on exchanges in programmatic sales or distributed in other ways.

Ripple announced its victory on July 19 but acknowledged that future court proceedings would concern contractual sales to institutional investors.

It did not mention that further proceedings would concern two of its most notable executives, although the proceedings around Garlinghouse and Larsen were mentioned in Judge Torres’ July 13 decision.

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