CFTC again warns against broad event contract self-certifications before July 27 comment deadline

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Market Oversight, the U.S. derivatives regulator’s market supervision arm, issued a July 24 advisory reiterating that designated contract markets should not use broad, template-style self-certifications that bundle multiple event contract variations into a single filing. The division said those submissions can prevent it from determining whether exchanges have provided the information, explanation and analysis required under Commission Regulation § 40.2, including contract-specific terms, settlement methodology, data sources, the underlying commodity and compliance with core principles and the Commodity Exchange Act. The warning, described as the CFTC’s second this year after similar March 12 guidance, came ahead of the agency’s July 27 deadline for comments on proposed amendments covering public-interest determinations for certain event contracts tied to activities enumerated in the Commodity Exchange Act. The newer report said the guidance rebuked or criticized template-style filings used by Kalshi, Coinbase, Polymarket and Crypto.com. The advisory also explains when closely related event contracts may be certified as a class or instead submitted for approval under Commission Regulations §§ 40.2(d) or 40.3, and points to related guidance in Staff Letter No. 26-22.