The US Securities and Exchange Commission defended the settlement agreement reached with Elon Musk to acquire Twitter shares, saying that the agreement reflected a “compromise between the two parties” and that there was no suspicion of collusion. Earlier, the judge in charge of hearing the case had stated that the agreement raised an “alarm.” In documents submitted to the Washington DC federal court, the SEC also stated in footnotes that if the settlement agreement is approved, Musk will be allowed to publicly deny the charges, which reflects recent policy changes against defendants who have reached an enforcement settlement. The settlement required the establishment of a trust fund in the name of Musk to pay $1.5 million to resolve the SEC's allegation that the world's richest man delayed 11 days in disclosing information about his purchase of Twitter shares in March and April 2022, thus being able to buy at a low price before investors were aware. Musk said the delay in disclosure was unintentional. He eventually bought Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022 and renamed it X. In Monday's filing, the SEC said the “fair, reasonable, and proper” settlement “was not the result of any improper collusion between the parties,” but “stemmed from fair negotiations between the lawyers on record and reflected a compromise between the parties.” The agency also emphasized that the $1.5 million fine is the largest of its kind, and that reaching a settlement with a trust fund is in line with the SEC's practice in recent cases.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission defended the settlement agreement reached with Elon Musk to acquire Twitter shares, saying that the agreement reflected a “compromise between the two parties” and that there was no suspicion of collusion. Earlier, the judge in charge of hearing the case had stated that the agreement raised an “alarm.” In documents submitted to the Washington DC federal court, the SEC also stated in footnotes that if the settlement agreement is approved, Musk will be allowed to publicly deny the charges, which reflects recent policy changes against defendants who have reached an enforcement settlement. The settlement required the establishment of a trust fund in the name of Musk to pay $1.5 million to resolve the SEC's allegation that the world's richest man delayed 11 days in disclosing information about his purchase of Twitter shares in March and April 2022, thus being able to buy at a low price before investors were aware. Musk said the delay in disclosure was unintentional. He eventually bought Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022 and renamed it X. In Monday's filing, the SEC said the “fair, reasonable, and proper” settlement “was not the result of any improper collusion between the parties,” but “stemmed from fair negotiations between the lawyers on record and reflected a compromise between the parties.” The agency also emphasized that the $1.5 million fine is the largest of its kind, and that reaching a settlement with a trust fund is in line with the SEC's practice in recent cases.