You don’t have permission to access “http://www.olympics.com/en/milano-cortina-2026/news/team26-takes-centre-stage-at-the-san-siro-olympic-stadium-900-volunteers-attend-the-opening-ceremony” on this server.
Reference…
Tehran, Iran – Iranian authorities have described the latest talks with the United States as “positive”, but the mediated negotiations in Oman offered no roadmap to alleviate growing fears of a US…
Iridium oxide is one of the most important — and most problematic — materials in the global push toward clean energy. It is currently the most reliable catalyst used in the conversion of energy to chemicals by electrolysis, a…
SAVE 17%: As of Feb. 6, the 55-inch Samsung “The Terrace” outdoor Smart TV (QN55LST7DAFXZA, 2024 model) is on sale for $2,891.96, down from $3,497.99, at Amazon. That’s a 17% discount…
On January 29, 2026, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Michael Selig held a rare joint “Project Crypto” summit. Project Crypto is the agencies’ joint effort to modernize the regulatory framework for cryptoassets.
Near the end of his remarks, CFTC Chairman Selig announced his plans to “support the responsible development of event contract markets,” laying out a four-part regulatory agenda.1 Chairman Selig’s remarks signal a new regulatory environment in the short term and a hotly contested regulatory and legal environment in the long term, with important implications for prediction markets, regulators, and market participants.
The key takeaways below distill the most significant themes emerging from Chairman Selig’s remarks and his evolving agenda.
Key Takeaways
The Slow, Then Fast, Development of Prediction Markets
Event contracts have a long and, for the most part, sleepy history. Dating back at least to the 19th century, event contracts present binary yes/no propositions on the outcome of certain future events, such as the closing price of oil, the amount of rainfall during the growing season, or the last freezing day of the year.
Beginning in the 1980s, academic institutions began offering election prediction markets as an alternative form of polling. The Iowa Electronic Markets, launched in 1988 as a small-scale research exchange at the University of Iowa, exemplified the field’s limited early profile with its low stakes and restricted participation. The University of Victoria (New Zealand), likewise in 2014, launched PredictIt, which also offered election prediction markets in the United States, again under rules that restricted its commercial upside.
In recent years, however, platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket have surged in popularity and visibility, each now handling billions of dollars in monthly trading volume. Although event contracts span a wide variety of subject matters, two have surged in popularity and controversy: (a) political event contracts and (b) sports event contracts. Political event contracts allow individuals to speculate on the outcome of a political event (e.g., who will win an election). Sports event contracts, on the other hand, allow trading on the outcome of a sporting event (e.g., who will win the Super Bowl).
Event contracts operate within the CFTC’s core derivatives framework. These contracts must be listed and traded on CFTC-registered designated contract markets (DCMs) and cleared through a derivative clearing organization (DCO). As a result, event contracts traded on DCMs are subject to the full panoply of CFTC-market integrity rules and may not be readily susceptible to market manipulation (e.g., wash trading, spoofing, etc.).2
Despite operating within this federally regulated framework, event contracts — particularly those tied to sports outcomes — have become the focus of increasing legal controversy. Much of the litigation on sports-related contracts centers on their perceived similarity to traditional gambling. Indeed, both state and federal courts are currently addressing disputes over whether these sports-related contracts — offered by prediction markets — constitute unlawful sports betting under state gambling laws. That question remains unsettled and may be destined for the Supreme Court.
Against this backdrop of legal uncertainty and active litigation, the CFTC has set a new regulatory agenda for prediction markets.
The CFTC’s New Agenda for Prediction Markets
1. Withdrawal of Prior Actions
Chairman Selig directed CFTC staff to withdraw the 2024 proposed rule that would have prohibited political and sports-related event contracts.3 Days later, the CFTC formally announced the withdrawal in a staff letter, explaining that developments in the event contracts market since the rule’s proposal had rendered it unnecessary.4
In addition, Chairman Selig directed CFTC staff to withdraw a 2025 staff advisory regarding sports-related event contracts. In that advisory, the CFTC cautioned that “state regulatory actions and pending and potential litigation, including enforcement actions, should be accounted for with appropriate contingency planning,” effectively taking a let-the-courts-decide position on whether sports-related event contracts fall within the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction.5 By directing staff to withdraw that advisory, however, Chairman Selig signaled a willingness to litigate the position that event contracts — including sports-related ones — belong exclusively within the CFTC’s jurisdiction.
2. New Rulemaking on Event Contracts
During his nomination hearing, Chairman Selig stated that given the complexity of distinguishing between gaming and sports-related event contracts, that determination is best left to the courts — and that the CFTC would follow the law as determined by judicial decisions. But instead of deferring to the courts, Chairman Selig directed CFTC staff to begin drafting a new event contract rule with the goal of establishing clear, workable standards and replacing what he described as a framework that has proven difficult to apply. Chairman Selig’s new agenda comes as the rapid growth of prediction markets shifts from traditional commercial hedgers to retail participants — raising questions about whether a regulatory framework built for institutional commodity markets adequately addresses retail-facing risks.
3. Reassessment of Pending Litigation
Building on its more aggressive jurisdictional posture, the CFTC will reassess its participation in matters currently pending before federal district and circuit courts, particularly where jurisdictional questions are at issue. Jurisdictional issues in pending litigation stem from disputes over whether contracts offered by prediction markets constitute unlawful sports betting under state gambling laws. Although that question remains unsettled,6 Chairman Selig made clear that the CFTC will defend its jurisdiction in ongoing litigation over commodity derivatives.
4. Joint SEC–CFTC Interpretation
Chairman Selig also directed staff to work with the SEC to develop a joint interpretation of Title VII definitions to clarify the boundaries among commodity options, security options, swaps, and security-based swaps. This coordinated effort aims to reduce regulatory uncertainty and avoid innovation’s falling into a “no man’s land” between the two agencies.
Predicting the Legal Landscape of Prediction Markets in Light of the CFTC’s New Agenda
It is impossible to anticipate when these steps will begin or be completed, much less how these developments will affect or be affected by the various prediction market lawsuits that may be destined for resolution by the Supreme Court. However, a few things seem certain.
First, prediction markets that bet on regulatory acceptance of sports-related and political event contracts appear to have been vindicated. Such DCMs as Kalshi and Polymarket may list for trading new contracts by self-certifying with the CFTC that the new contract complies with the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA). Although the CFTC previously declined to take an official position on the permissibility of such self-certifications,7 Chairman Selig’s new agenda suggests that the CFTC is now prepared to do so. That shift comes at a consequential moment: Even before the inauguration, prediction markets had begun offering contracts that increasingly tested the limits of CFTC Rule 40.11’s prohibition on gaming event contracts. And while it remains unsettled whether that regulation prohibits such contracts, it is now settled that the CFTC will not devote its limited resources to taking down sports prediction markets based solely on the subject matter of their contracts.
Second, litigation over prediction markets will continue — and perhaps intensify. Chairman Selig’s statements are likely to embolden both prediction markets to continue investing in the space and state gaming regulators to pursue regulatory action. And the anticipated rulemaking itself may draw legal challenges, regardless of its content.
Third, pending or forthcoming legal challenges will likely demonstrate the seismic shift in administrative law from Chevron to Loper Bright. The CEA’s use of the undefined term “gaming” is sufficiently broad to have granted regulators discretion to adopt broad or narrow definitions, creating the possibility that the CFTC’s interpretation could have vacillated wildly from administration to administration. Under Loper Bright, however, courts will now endeavor to identify the definition of “gaming” rather than the range of reasonable definitions.
Statutory Constraints on the New CFTC’s Agenda: Dodd-Frank as Gatekeeper
Although the CFTC signaled a more permissive approach to prediction markets, its discretion remains bounded by the CEA as amended by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Section 5c(c)(5)(C) of the CEA expressly authorizes the Commission to prohibit event contracts that involve enumerated activities — such as “gaming” — or that are deemed contrary to the public interest.8 So even if the CFTC promulgates a new rule or amends Rule 40.11(a), it will still need to reckon with its statutory mandate under the CEA and comply with the definition of “excluded commodity” under the CEA.9 As a result, any new rulemaking or revision must operate within statutory constraints and will require the CFTC to interpret — not rewrite — the governing provisions of the CEA, a task that will now receive heightened judicial scrutiny in the post–Loper Bright era.
Looking Ahead
Chairman Selig’s remarks mark the most definitive signal yet that prediction markets have moved to the forefront of the CFTC’s regulatory agenda. The rulemaking to follow will draw close attention from market participants, investors, and regulators alike, and any final rule is expected to prompt further litigation. Firms offering, developing, or considering trading event contracts should prepare for increased engagement with the CFTC through comment letters, compliance planning, and strategic regulatory analysis.
Now, as the CFTC looks poised to grant enhanced regulatory legitimacy on sports event contracts and prediction markets more broadly, such a permissive signal has not eliminated state-level resistance, particularly where prediction markets are perceived to encroach on traditional gambling regulation. Days after Chairman Selig’s remarks, and just a few days before the Super Bowl, New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a pointed warning to New Yorkers: “Be careful about placing trades on prediction markets.”10 In doing so, she cautioned that such markets “do not have the same consumer protections as regulated platforms.”11 In her view, prediction markets platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket “are bets ‘masquerading’ as event contracts,” with the former regulated by state gaming and wagering laws while the latter by the CFTC.12 This warning came on the heels of AG James’s office issuing a cease-and-desist order to Kalshi, alleging that the company’s sports event contracts violated New York’s gambling law.
In parallel, federal prosecutors have issued a warning. The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, recently stated that his office is actively evaluating how existing fraud statutes apply to prediction markets and expects prosecutions where participants exploit them.13 He emphasized that the prediction-market label does not insulate conduct from criminal liability, including conspiracies to manipulate underlying events.14
Finally, while the CFTC has adopted a new approach to prediction markets, the Commission’s evolving posture should not be understood as a wholesale retreat from enforcement. Even as regulatory focus centers on the permissibility of event contracts themselves, significant questions remain regarding insider trading and the misappropriation of material nonpublic information in prediction markets — especially when the conduct takes place outside the United States, by a non-U.S. citizen, on a non-U.S. platform such as Polymarket. Under CFTC guidance, an entity will generally be considered a “non-U.S. person” if it was formed outside the United States and its officers direct, control, and coordinate the firm’s activities from outside the United States.15 Although classification as a non-U.S. person has important regulatory ramifications for an entity, recent enforcement actions underscore that cross-border structuring alone is not a safe harbor; U.S. regulators may assert jurisdiction over and prosecute non-U.S. persons or entities if the trading activity has a connection to U.S. commerce.16
1Michael S. Selig, The Next Phase of Project Crypto: Unleashing Innovation for the New Frontier of Finance, Remarks of Chairman Michael S. Selig at CFTC-SEC Event on Harmonization (Jan. 29, 2026), CFTC (speech), https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/opaselig1.
2See 17 CFR § 38.200.
3See Michael S. Selig, The Next Phase of Project Crypto: Unleashing Innovation for the New Frontier of Finance, Remarks of Chairman Michael S. Selig at CFTC-SEC Event on Harmonization (Jan. 29, 2026), CFTC (speech), https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/opaselig1; see also 89 Fed. Reg. 48968 (June 10, 2024), https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/06/10/2024-12125/event-contracts.
4See U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Comm’n, CFTC Staff Advisory Letter – Withdrawal, No. 26-04 (Feb. 4, 2026). The CFTC was unable to finalize the 2024 proposed rule before the transition, and the proposal has now reached a predictable dead end. In remarks delivered at the Joint SEC-CFTC Harmonization Event, Chairman Selig announced that the Commission will not proceed with the 2024 proposal, signaling a recalibration of priorities in the prediction markets space. This shift appears to reflect concerns that the 2024 proposal (1) clashed head-on with constitutional principles; (2) adopted a broad definition of “gaming”; (3) categorically classified event contracts as contrary to the public interest, regardless of their specific terms and conditions; (4) relied on an antiquated “economic purpose test”; and (5) reflected a misunderstanding of the distinction between federal derivatives regulation and state gaming regulation.
5See U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Comm’n, CFTC Staff Advisory Letter No. 25-36 (Sept. 30, 2025).
6Several recent cases highlight the divergent approaches emerging in different jurisdictions.
7See U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Comm’n, CFTC Staff Advisory Letter No. 25-36 (Sept. 30, 2025).
8See 7 U.S.C. § 7a-2(c)(5)(A).
9See 7 U.S.C. § 1a(19)(iv), 7a-2(c)(5)(A).
10CNBC, New York Attorney General Warns Against Prediction Market Trades Ahead of Super Bowl (Feb. 2, 2026), https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/02/new-york-ag-prediction-markets-super-bowl-warning.html.
11Id. CFTC-regulated markets have extensive customer protections, including segregation of customer funds and limitations on permitted depositories for such funds.
12Id.
13Jessica Corso, SDNY Chief Says Office Has Eye on Prediction Markets, Law360 (Feb 6, 2026), https://www.law360.com/sports-and-betting/articles/2438607?nl_pk=66c6660d-02d0-4c8d-88b7-e422aeb64d17&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sports-and-betting&utm_content=2026-02-06&read_main=1&nlsidx=0&nlaidx=0.
14Id.
15“[P]rincipal place of business means the location from which the officers, partners, or managers of the legal person primarily direct, control, and coordinate the activities of the legal person.” Commodity Futures Trading Comm’n, CFTC Letter No. 25-14, Staff Interpretation Regarding Certain Cross-Border Definitions (May 21, 2025).
16See Commodity Futures Trading Commission, CFTC Charges Commodity Pool Operators and Their Co-Chief Investment Officer with Deception and Manipulation in Connection with Swaps and Supervision Failures, CFTC Release No. 8640-22 (Dec. 15, 2022), https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8640-22 (announcing charges against Neil Phillips, a resident of the United Kingdom, “with engaging in a deceptive and manipulative scheme to illegally trigger payouts on two large binary option contracts”); see also Commodity Futures Trading Commission, CFTC Charges Binance and Its Founder, Changpeng Zhao, with Willful Evasion of Federal Law and Operating an Illegal Digital Asset Derivatives Exchange, CFTC Release No. 8680-23 (March 27, 2023), https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8680-23 (announcing “a civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois charging Changpeng Zhao and three entities that operate the Binance platform with numerous violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations”); see also Commodity Futures Trading Commission, CFTC Issues Order Against Crypto Prime Brokerage Firm for Unlawfully Providing U.S. Customers Access to Digital Asset Derivatives Trading Platforms, CFTC Release No. 8909-24 (May 13, 2024), https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8909-24 (describing the “filing and settling charges against Falcon Labs, Ltd., an entity organized under the laws of the Seychelles, for failing to register with the CFTC as a futures commission merchant”).
Basel, February 6, 2026 – Novartis today broke ground on a new, state-of-the-art global Biomedical Research center in San Diego, California, designed to provide world-class scientific infrastructure and drug-discovery capabilities to advance the company’s pipeline for patients.
Once operational in 2029, the approximately 466,000-square-foot facility is expected to house about 1,000 Novartis employees and integrate seamlessly with Novartis global research sites including Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Basel, Switzerland, enabling integrated discovery efforts across regions.
“This new research center will strengthen our scientific leadership and accelerate the discovery of transformative medicines for patients worldwide, while deepening our connectivity with biotech, academic and technology partners across the region,” said Fiona Marshall, President of Biomedical Research at Novartis. “Designed to power future drug discovery, with a focus on genetics and human biology in key therapeutic areas such as neuroscience and oncology, it will create a single Novartis research center within one of the world’s premier life sciences ecosystems—accelerating our pipeline from discovery to patients.”
Government leaders and community partners joined Novartis employees in San Diego to mark the start of construction at the groundbreaking ceremony.
“This investment by Novartis reinforces San Diego as a place where breakthrough science happens and where innovation translates into high-quality jobs and life-changing medicines,” said Todd Gloria, San Diego Mayor. “San Diego is a global leader in life sciences because we bring together world-class talent, cutting-edge research and a collaborative ecosystem that turns discovery into impact. We’re proud to welcome this new research center and to continue building an economy rooted in innovation and results.”
The new facility builds on more than 25 years of Novartis research and development in San Diego and will support end-to-end drug discovery across core disease areas, including neuroscience, global health, oncology and age-related diseases and regenerative medicine. It will also expand the company’s capabilities in next-generation technology platforms, such as gene and cell therapies, RNA-based therapies, biologics and targeted protein degradation, and will advance novel delivery systems that open new therapeutic possibilities.
“Rooted in a strong legacy of innovation in San Diego and California, we are inspired to shape the future—driving new breakthroughs that will transform care for millions of patients worldwide,” said Thierry Diagana, California Sites Head and Global Head of Global Health, Biomedical Research, Novartis.
With advanced artificial intelligence, data and computational capabilities embedded throughout, the facility will be a key part of the global Novartis Biomedical Research network, helping share insights, scale innovation, and deliver meaningful breakthroughs for patients worldwide.
The San Diego research facility is a key pillar of the company’s USD 23 billion US investment. This includes a new flagship manufacturing hub in North Carolina; the opening of a radioligand therapy (RLT) manufacturing facility in Carlsbad, California; investments to expand existing facilities in Indiana and New Jersey; and plans to build new RLT manufacturing facilities in Florida and Texas.
Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as “potential,” “can,” “will,” “plan,” “may,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “look forward,” “believe,” “committed,” “investigational,” “pipeline,” “launch,” or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labeling for the investigational or approved products described in this press release; or regarding potential future revenues from such products; or regarding discussions of strategy, plans, expectations or intentions, including discussions regarding our continued investment into new US R&D or manufacturing capabilities. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be commercially successful in the future. Neither can there be any guarantee that the expected benefits from the plans and investments described in this press release will be achieved in the expected timeframe, or at all. In particular, our expectations regarding such products could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures and requirements for increased pricing transparency; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; general political, economic and business conditions, including the effects of and efforts to mitigate pandemic diseases; safety, quality, data integrity or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG’s current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
About Novartis
Novartis is an innovative medicines company. Every day, we work to reimagine medicine to improve and extend people’s lives so that patients, healthcare professionals and societies are empowered in the face of serious disease. Our medicines reach more than 300 million people worldwide.
Reimagine medicine with us: Visit us at https://www.novartis.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, X/Twitter and Instagram.
# # #
Personalized medicine focuses on tailoring medication to a patient’s genetic and biochemical makeup, enabling more effective treatment with fewer side effects.
In oncology, this can include leveraging information about a…
You don’t have permission to access “http://www.olympics.com/en/milano-cortina-2026/news/winter-olympics-2026-curling-lingo-you-need-to-know-house-hack-broom-hammer-button/” on this server.
Reference…
We celebrate the Oscar-winning 1976 film by listening back to archival interviews with Scorsese, screenwriter Paul Schrader, and actors Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, Cybill Shepherd and Albert Brooks.
