Sponsor
Adam Schiff
Senator · D-CA
Senator · D-CA
The bill stops markets from listing or clearing contracts tied to terrorism, assassination, war, or death to protect ethics and reduce legal/reputational risk, but at the cost of narrower hedging/product options, regulatory uncertainty, and potential blocking of legitimate research or humanitarian-linked products.
Registered trading platforms, clearinghouses, and related financial firms will be barred from listing or clearing contracts tied to terrorism, assassination, war, or death, reducing their legal and reputational risk from controversial products.
Consumers and the general public are protected from markets that could commodify death or violent acts, addressing ethical and public-sentiment concerns about certain derivatives.
Registered entities and their customers lose the ability to trade or hedge niche contracts tied to excluded topics (e.g., mortality- or conflict-linked instruments), limiting risk-management tools for some firms.
The CFTC will face added administrative burden and discretionary decision-making to determine what references terrorism, war, or closely correlates with death, creating regulatory uncertainty for markets and participants.
Researchers, insurers, and humanitarian-linked programs could see legitimate research, insurance, or financial products blocked if they reference conflict or mortality, potentially reducing innovation and coverage options.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Bars registered exchanges and clearinghouses from listing or clearing contracts/swaps that reference terrorism, assassination, war, or an individual's death (as determined by the CFTC).
Official title: Amend the Commodity Exchange Act to prohibit the listing of contracts relating to war, death, and similar activities.
Introduced March 10, 2026 by Adam Schiff · Last progress March 10, 2026
Prohibits registered futures/clearing entities from listing, trading, or clearing any agreement, contract, transaction, or swap that references or is tied to terrorism, assassination, war, or an individual’s death (or could be construed as closely correlating to an individual’s death). The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will determine whether a proposed product falls into those prohibited categories, and registered entities must not accept or clear such products on their platforms.