By Solomon Odunayo
Ripple, the San Francisco based cross-border payment firm, has on 15th February 2021 jointly filed a letter with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to the federal Judge Analisa Torres of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, which says there’s likely no prospect for settlement of the lawsuit at this time.
Howbeit, the letter indicates that there is still room for settlement. It also states that the only known settlement discussion was held with the previous administration.
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The joint letter reads in part as follows:
“Counsel for the parties have met and conferred and, having previously discussed settlement, do not believe there is a prospect for settlement at this time. However, the parties will promptly notify the Court if any settlement in principle is reached as to any Defendant.
“Defendants agree with the statement, but note that previous settlement discussions took place under a previous administration and were principally with relevant division directors who have since left the SEC.”
Ripple’s Attempts for Settlement
It can be recalled that the chief executive officer of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse, revealed in a series of tweets on 7th January 2021 that there were failed attempts to settle the lawsuit with the SEC.
Garlinghouse noted:
“I’m not going to litigate the SEC’s unproven allegations on Twitter, and as you can imagine, there are new considerations to what can / should be said publicly after the litigation process starts. However, I would like to address 5 key questions I’ve seen.
“Why didn’t Ripple settle with the SEC? Can’t get into specifics, but know we tried – and will continue to try w/ the new administration – to resolve this in a way so the XRP community can continue innovating, consumers are protected and orderly markets are preserved.”
Read Also: United Kingdom Provides Regulatory Clarity for Digital Asset, Says XRP Is Not A Security
Since the emergence of the current administration, there have been predictions that it will be soft toward the cross-border payment firm. However, the nominated SEC’s chairman, Gary Gensler, has stated that there’s a strong case for the digital token XRP to be deemed as a security.