Top Ripple Lawyer Predicts Outcome of SEC Appeal

Stuart Alderoty, chief legal officer at San Francisco-headquartered enterprise blockchain firm Ripple, is convinced that the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit will either affirm the ruling issued by Judge Analisa Torres or even end up expanding it. 

A "remand," a situation in which a superior court sends an appeal back to a lower court, would be the best-case scenario for the SEC, according to Alderoty. 

In October, Judge Torres rejected the SEC's request to certify its interlocutory appeal. 

As noted by Alderoty, the judge "made it clear" that Ripple's defenses, including the "fair notice" one, would be back on the table. 

The court did not reach the argument about the defendants's fair notice defenses as to the programmatic sales and other distribution. "If the Order were reversed and the case remanded, the Court may consider some of these questions in the first instance," according to Judge Torres. 

The crux of the defense is that the regulated entity and persons were not aware of the fact that their conduct was prohibited. 

However, the court rejected Ripple's arguments about the SEC's alleged failure to provide guidance in the context of institutional sales. 

At the same time, Judge Torres ruled that Ripple did not violate securities laws with its programmatic sales to retail exchanges.