Campaign Event Contract Integrity Act
- Bill Number
- H.R. 8771
- Origin Chamber
- House
- Congress
- 119th Congress, Session 2
- Policy Area
- Finance and Financial Sector
- Status
- Introduced
- Latest Action
- 2026-05-12: Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
- Last Updated
- 2026-06-05T12:34:13Z
AI-Generated Summary
Campaign Event Contract Integrity Act (H.R. 8771)
Purpose
This legislation aims to prevent insider trading in political event contracts by prohibiting certain campaign-affiliated individuals from trading while in possession of confidential campaign information. It also requires prediction market platforms to implement safeguards against such trading and market manipulation.
Key Provisions
- Definitions: Establishes terms including "covered campaign-affiliated individual" (those receiving compensation from or acting on behalf of candidates, committees, or related entities), "covered platform" (entities facilitating trading in political event contracts), "material nonpublic campaign information" (confidential data like internal polling or strategies), and "political event contract" (agreements based on election or political outcomes).
- Trading Restrictions: Bars covered individuals from buying, selling, or trading political event contracts while knowingly holding material nonpublic campaign information; prohibits tipping such information to others for trading purposes; and forbids evading the rules through third parties.
- Platform Obligations: Requires covered platforms to create policies for detecting prohibited trades, identifying suspicious activity linked to campaigns, maintaining records, and reporting issues to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC); mandates trader disclosures about campaign affiliations above certain thresholds.
- Enforcement and Penalties: Grants the CFTC authority to investigate violations and seek civil penalties up to $250,000 or three times any profits gained or losses avoided, plus disgorgement of gains and trading bans; allows referrals for criminal matters.
- Safe Harbor and Construction: Protects activities like public-information analysis, journalism, and academic research; clarifies that the Act does not alter the CFTC's existing powers under the Commodity Exchange Act or preempt other federal laws.
Significant Changes to Existing Law
The bill introduces targeted prohibitions on insider trading specific to political event contracts, expanding beyond general CFTC oversight by adding campaign-related disclosure and monitoring requirements. It does not repeal or modify prior statutes but supplements them with new civil remedies and platform compliance rules.
Potential Impacts
- Government Agencies: Expands the CFTC's regulatory and enforcement role, including mandatory rulemaking within 180 days, increased monitoring of prediction markets, and potential resource allocation for investigations.
- Citizens: Restricts trading by campaign-affiliated individuals and requires disclosures from active traders, potentially limiting access to these markets for those with campaign ties while protecting others without such information.
- International Relations: No direct effects specified, though it could influence cross-border trading platforms if they facilitate U.S. political event contracts.
Main Stakeholders Affected
- Campaign-affiliated individuals, including candidates, committee staff, consultants, and their family members.
- Covered platforms and traders in political event contracts.
- The CFTC as the primary enforcer.
- Political committees, parties, and entities engaged in campaign activities.
Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications
- Legal: Strengthens anti-insider trading measures in commodities markets for political events, with civil penalties and safe harbors to avoid overreach; relies on CFTC rulemaking for implementation details.
- Constitutional: May raise questions around free speech in tipping prohibitions or compelled disclosures, though the bill includes explicit protections for public analysis and does not address these directly.
- Political: Seeks to maintain integrity in election-related prediction markets by curbing potential conflicts of interest tied to campaigns.
This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.
Sponsor
Rep. Torres, Ritchie [D-NY-15]
Cosponsors (1)
Recent Actions
- 2026-05-12: Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.
- 2026-05-12: Introduced in House
- 2026-05-12: Introduced in House
Bill Versions
- Campaign Event Contract Integrity Act — issued 2026-05-12 — PDF (8 pages)