WASHINGTON, D.C.— Cantrell Dumas, Director of Derivatives Policy, issued the following statement in connection with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) announcement of a public roundtable in response to the self-certified Super Bowl event contracts:

“The CFTC’s decision to convene a public roundtable on event contracts is an important step toward ensuring proper regulatory scrutiny. However, allowing these sports event contracts to continue trading in the meantime undercuts the very purpose of the roundtable.  It signals that the CFTC is willing to permit these contracts before fully considering their legality under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and before gathering input from key stakeholders. This makes the discussion appear like a formality rather than a genuine effort to evaluate the issue. The CFTC should immediately stay all pending sports event contracts until the public can weigh in.

“These contracts are a backdoor attempt to bring gambling into financial markets and are not permitted under the CEA. The CFTC also lacks the expertise to regulate gambling, which is traditionally overseen by state agencies. Expanding the CFTC’s role into gambling would stretch its limited resources and divert it from its core mission of overseeing legitimate derivatives markets.

“Staying these contracts is the only responsible course of action. Anything less would undermine both the credibility of the roundtable and the integrity of the CFTC’s decision-making process.”

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