The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is seeking public comments via the CFTC Public Comments Portal on the need to amend or issue new regulations concerning event contracts traded on prediction markets.
“Today’s action is an important step in the Commission’s continued effort to promote responsible innovation in our derivatives markets,” CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig said. “This begins the process of new rulemaking grounded in a rational and coherent interpretation of the Commodity Exchange Act, while reassuring the American people that the CFTC will exercise its exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets.”
The commission asks questions concerning types of event contracts that might be prohibited as contrary to the public interest, the cost-benefit considerations related to prediction markets, the application of statutory core principles and commission regulations to prediction markets, and other topics.
The commission will use the feedback to inform any potential future agency action, such as a rulemaking, with respect to prediction markets.
Comments must be in writing and received within 45 days of the ANPRM’s publication in the Federal Register.
The CFTC also issued a prediction markets advisory regarding the listing for trading of event contracts. The advisory underscores debt capital markets’ regulatory obligations and product submission requirements, and discusses nuances that may apply to sports-related event contracts.