The court has approved the SEC’s Request for an extension of time despite Ripple’s opposition
Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn has granted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s request for an extension of time in the Ripple case.
As reported by U.Today, the plaintiff filed the motion on March 21 in order to determine whether it is necessary to conduct additional discovery.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen, the two individual defendants, voiced their opposition to the aforementioned motion in their letter to the court, accusing the SEC of deliberately trying to slow down the litigation process.
As reported by U.Today, Ripple general counsel Stuart Alderoty urged the agency to publicly commit to moving the case as swiftly as possible without further delays.
As noted by James K. Filan, former federal prosecutor, the individual defendants are supposed to file their Answer on April 8. The SEC will have to inform the judge of its position on whether or not the regulator needs to conduct additional discovery in the Ripple case within a week of that filing.
Earlier this month, the court rejected the SEC’s motion to strike Ripple’s pivotal defense, a development that has instilled more optimism in the individual defendants. Garlinghouse recently said that he was “pleased” with how the case was unfolding despite the fact that he and Chris Larsen failed to dismiss the lawsuit.
Ripple was slapped with the lawsuit by the SEC in December 2020. After months of going back and forth, the parties are now inching closer to the resolution of the case while they continue fighting over the access to the agency’s internal documents.