WASHINGTON, D.C.—Stephen Hall, Legal Director and Securities Specialist, issued the following statement on the release of a new fact sheet as the January 17th oral argument approaches in KalshiEx LLC v. CFTC, a case that will determine the fate of contracts that allow huge wagers to be placed on election results:
“The D.C. Circuit should reverse the district court and restore the well-grounded decision of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to prohibit gambling on our elections. Kashi’s contracts are allowing large-scale wagers on an ever-increasing number of election contests across the country. This poses a long list of threats. These contracts will inevitably undermine the integrity of our elections; foster rampant market manipulation; create a new class of gambling addicts; and distract the CFTC, an already beleaguered agency, from its real mission of safeguarding the commodity markets. Close oversight of those markets is essential to ensure that Americans can rely on stable prices for the food, fuel, and other products that are critical in their everyday lives. None of these harms will be offset by countervailing benefits, because these contracts do not serve as reliable information sources or risk-hedging tools.
“The D.C. Circuit has ample legal grounds for overturning the lower court’s decision. The district court not only misread the law but also failed to consider the damaging impact of its decision, thus ignoring the very concerns that motivated Congress to authorize the CFTC to ban any “event contract” found to be contrary to the public interest. The court also failed to consider the CFTC’s three decades of experience dealing with this type of event contract and its status under the law.”
Better Markets’ fact sheet recaps the 12 leading reasons why the appellate Court should reverse the district court’s ruling and reinstate the CFTC’s important ban on election gambling contracts.
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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies—including many in finance—to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.org.
