One week after the December 4 murder of UnitedHealth Group executive Brian Thompson in New York, Americans were able to bet on the fate of his alleged killer. Some people, including financial regulators, may have a problem with that.
The regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Kalshi declined to comment. The agency bans futures trading linked to crimes including assassination, terrorism and war if it decides the so-called events contracts are against the public interest. In a December 23 hearing, Mangione pleaded not guilty. His lawyer expressed concern about getting a fair trial due to statements being made by state officials.The Commodity Futures Trading Commission sought earlier this year to block Kalshi from taking bets on elections, but a US appeals court lifted a stay on trading and allowed such contracts to be handled on regulated exchanges. The court is set to weigh in on the CFTC’s authority to permanently stop the contracts.
Contracts can go live if an exchange merely files a self-certification with the CFTC, with one full business day to review. Given the short turnaround, the agency lacks the time to stop self-certified offerings before they go live, but it can put them in a trading review limbo.“There’s no 10-day review period,” Dumas said about new products, referring to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. “In this instance, Kalshi can certify a contract and next day, it’s live.