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Telegram Agrees to Give SEC Bank Records, Communications in Ongoing TON Lawsuit
Telegram will fork over bank records and communications with its investors in an agreement with the SEC as part of the agency's ongoing lawsuit.
By Nikhilesh De
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 8:39 a.m. Published May 9, 2020, 12:07 a.m.
Telegram is pledging to turn over communications, bank records and other information to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as part of the agency's ongoing legal fight against the messaging startup on allegations that its $1.7 billion token sale in 2018 was conducted in violation of U.S. securities law.
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According to a court filing Friday, Telegram has agreed to turn over certain documents as part of the discovery process. Telegram will also answer questions about bank records that have already been produced.
Telegram will also share information about whether it has already disbursed assets to its pre-sale customers, as well as information about assets it received from these investors (if it relates to the termination of their purchase agreements).
"Telegram shall provide the SEC with notice of any amendments to the Purchase Agreements, and notice of any final written agreements entered into with the Initial Purchasers relating to or arising out of the Purchase Agreements, within two days following such amendments or final agreements," the filing said.
The company will also produce its communications about the termination of its private placement agreements by May 20, 2020.
Telegram and the SEC submitted the agreement on Thursday, May 7 and a judge signed off on Friday, according to court records. The news comes a day after TON Labs, an independent entity, announced it was launching a fork of the TON blockchain, with its own token (called Free Ton).
TON Labs' new fork is a direct response to Telegram announcing it was postponing the launch of its actual network by another year to April 2021. The messaging platform has also offered to refund investors, allowing them to either take back 72% of their initial funds immediately or loan their funds to Telegram for a year and recoup 110%.
While Telegram initially said it would could pay investors in Grams, its planned token, it later said this was not possible. Telegram has also told U.S. investors it would be refunding them immediately, and the loan option would not be available.
Read the full filing below:
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