According to U.Today, Ripple's Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty clarified that the pre-trial meeting with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was not scheduled for April 16 to refute some misinformation on social media. He explained that the meeting would not take place because Ripple's CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen had been cleared of all charges by the SEC. The two senior executives were originally charged with aiding and abetting Ripple in violating securities laws. The schedule was set before the charges were dropped in October and is therefore outdated. Alderoty said that Ripple expects to respond to the SEC's request for a fine on April 22, and the SEC will respond to Ripple on May 6. The SEC reportedly asked Ripple to pay more than $2 billion in fines and penalties. The SEC argued in its motion that this huge fine was justified due to the nature of Ripple's behavior. In addition, it is expected that the large fine will prevent the crypto industry from further violating securities laws. Garlinghouse quickly condemned the SEC's request as overregulation, while Alderoty accused the regulator of trying to intimidate his company and the broader industry.