Terraform Labs Challenges SEC’s Proposed Remedies in Fraud Case

As the legal battle between Terraform Labs (TFL) and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues, TFL has made a strong argument against the proposed remedies put forward by the regulator. 

With a hearing scheduled for May 22 to discuss the proposed remedies, Terraform is advocating for a substantially different judgment than that suggested by the SEC.

Terraform Argues Against a $5.3B Penalty

In a supplement to its opposition to the SEC’s motion for final judgment filed on May 1, lawyers representing Terraform argued that the financial regulator was not entitled to the $5.3 billion in disgorgement, interest, and civil penalties it seeks following a jury finding TFL and co-founder Do Kwon liable for fraud. 

Terraform reiterated its previous claims that any disgorgement would essentially need to be obtained from the Luna Foundation Guard (LFG), which is a “non-party” in the civil case.

SEC had ‘No Evidence’

Terraform’s lawyers stated that the SEC had “no evidence” that the platform’s or Kwon’s activities in the U.S. caused the losses at the center of the civil case. 

They argued that the SEC’s claim for disgorgement and civil penalties would effectively grant the regulatory body a “territorially unlimited injunction.”

“TFL’s offers and sales of tokens occurred almost entirely outside the U.S., and the SEC has submitted no evidence that Defendants’ limited activities in the U.S. directly caused any losses, much less the billions the SEC seeks in disgorgement,” said the filing.

Terraform Proposes $1M Penalty

In an earlier filing on April 26, Terraform proposed that $1 million in civil penalties would be “far more appropriate” than the SEC’s multibillion-dollar proposal. 

Do Kwon Awaiting Extradition in Montenegro

Kwon, who is currently in Montenegro awaiting extradition to either the U.S. or South Korea, also opposed the SEC’s proposed remedies on similar grounds:

“The SEC must still establish that Mr. Kwon engaged in conduct within the United States or conduct without the United States that had a ‘foreseeable substantial effect’ in the United States,” said lawyers for the Terraform co-founder. 

“Mr. Kwon’s role in the conduct that forms the basis of the SEC’s requested judgment was performed entirely abroad, in Korea and Singapore.”

Following a two-week trial with the SEC, a jury found Terraform and Kwon liable for defrauding investors. All parties are scheduled to present arguments for proposed remedies before Judge Jed Rakoff on May 22. However, it remains unclear whether Kwon will be available due to his legal situation in Montenegro.