White House Warns Staff Not to Use Nonpublic Information for Financial Benefit in Prediction Markets

White House warned staff against betting on futures markets amid Iran war, official says

The White House warned staff against improperly leveraging ​their positions to place bets in ‌futures markets in an email on March 24, a day after President Donald Trump ordered a brief pause in ​some Iran strikes, a White House ​official said on Thursday.

Some of Trump's major ⁠policy decisions have been preceded by well-timed bets, ​leading some experts to question whether information had ​somehow leaked ahead of time.

Exchange data and Reuters calculations showed an unidentified trader or traders bet $500 million on ​Brent and WTI crude futures in a ​one-minute period shortly before Trump called a five-day delay on March ‌23 ⁠in attacks on Iran's energy infrastructure, after which oil prices crashed 15%.

"While he (Trump) seeks a strong and profitable stock market for everyone, members ​of Congress ​and other ⁠government officials should be prohibited from using nonpublic information for financial ​benefit," White House spokesman Davis Ingle ​told ⁠Reuters in a statement.

SEC Office of Inspector General Announces New Cash Awards Program to Combat Fraud and Waste

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of Inspector General (OIG) announces the launch of a new Cash Awards Program designed to incentivize SEC employees to identify and report potential fraud, waste, or mismanagement within the agency. Implemented pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 4512, the program offers financial rewards to SEC employees whose proactive disclosures lead to significant, verifiable cost savings for the SEC. This initiative underscores the OIG’s commitment to fiscal responsibility and operational integrity by leveraging the frontline expertise of the agency’s own workforce.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins Just Gave Another Speech About What the SEC Won’t Do. This One May Be the Most Dangerous Yet

There is a pattern to Paul Atkins’ public appearances that is impossible to ignore. Every speech, every conference address, every prepared remark seems to be yet another carefully worded announcement of what the SEC is no longer going to do. Not a vision. Not a mission. A retreat — masquerading as philosophy.

His latest speech, delivered at a Texas Stock Exchange conference in Miami — sharing a stage with Governors Abbott and DeSantis and Citadel Securities President Jim Esposito — was no exception. This time, Atkins declared that the SEC should defer to the states on matters of corporate governance. “We must stay in our lane as a disclosure agency and not be a merit regulator,” he said. He called it a return to “first principles.” He framed it as competition and federalism at their finest.

It sounded reasonable. It wasn’t.

Let me explain why deferring to the states on securities enforcement isn’t a principled act of federalism. It is, in plain terms, an abdication of the SEC’s investor protection mission — and a particularly reckless one.

SEC’s Enforcement Division Issues 2025 Report That Shuns Knuckleballs and Embraces Down-the-Middle Fastballs—and Brings In Woodcock as a Reliever

KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR MARKET PARTICIPANTS

The SEC’s FY 2025 results and the messaging accompanying them have several important implications:

Continued Focus on Traditional Fraud-Based Cases. Companies and individuals should expect sustained scrutiny of conduct involving clear investor harm, including disclosure fraud, insider trading, and market manipulation.

Reduced Emphasis on Technical or Novel Theories. Enforcement risk may be lower in areas involving technical compliance violations or emerging legal theories. In this regard, the Commission specifically criticized the prior Commission’s off-channel communications sweep and pursuit of alleged “dealer” activity that posed a threat that traditional asset managers could be considered dealers and required to register as such.

Increased Importance of Individual Accountability. The press release highlighted that the Commission is prioritizing individual accountability and will continue to do so, further bolstered by the relatively consistent number of individuals barred from servings as officers and directors of public companies in a year otherwise marked by decreased enforcement activity.

CONCLUSION

The SEC’s FY 2025 enforcement results confirm a strategic reset of the agency’s enforcement program.

Market participants should expect a more targeted enforcement environment that prioritizes substantive misconduct over technical violations but still carries meaningful financial and reputational risk where enforcement actions are pursued.