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SF 2494

A bill for an act regulating designated contract markets and providing penalties.

2025-2026 Regular Session

Regulates designated contract markets by requiring exclusion policies, public settlement-source lists, prohibition on using confidential info, and strong responsible-trading and ad

Committee report, approving bill.
#advertising #civilprocedure #consumeraffairs #contracts #governmententities #lobbying #publicemployees #settlementofdebts #trade
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WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · SF 2494

Summary: Iowa S.F. 2494 (2025-2026) – Regulating Designated Contract Markets and Penalties

Purpose and intent

S.F. 2494 aims to regulate designated contract markets (DCMs) by establishing strong safeguards to prevent unfair trading practices, reduce the use of non-public or confidential information in settling contracts, and address at-risk trading behaviors. The bill sets requirements for market operators to implement exclusion policies, disclose information sources for contract outcomes, prohibit trades based on proprietary information, and promote responsible trading practices. It also imposes advertising restrictions to prevent misleading or incentivizing conduct related to trading.

Key provisions and changes

  • Exclusion and self-exclusion policies

    • Markets must maintain and enforce policies to exclude certain persons from trading.
    • Allows individuals to self-exclude from trading contracts.

  • Broad exclusion categories

    • Officers, employees, and their family members.
    • Any person with inside information about a specific contract.
    • Public employees, officials, lobbyists, and family members who trade contracts related to legislation or other governmental actions.
    • Officers, employees, and family members of the market’s settlement source.

  • Settlement source definition and reporting

    • “Settlement source” defined as any entity from which the market sources information used to determine contract outcomes.
    • Markets must maintain a comprehensive list of all settlement sources.
    • The list must be readily accessible to the public.

  • Prohibition on settling trades with confidential information

    • Markets may not settle trades based on proprietary or confidential information.

  • Responsible trading measures

    • Markets must implement and adhere to measures designed to protect at-risk traders:
    • Personal trading limits set by individuals.
    • Features showing the amount of time spent trading.
    • Clear display of the statewide gambling helpline number (DHHS) on information related to gambling.
    • All advertisements must include an at-risk trading message and the statewide helpline number.

  • Advertising restrictions for markets

    • Limits on push notifications.
    • Prohibitions on depicting individuals under 21.
    • Prohibitions on implying trading is risk-free.
    • Prohibitions on implying endorsement by the state government (or the LSB/Division of the Legislative Services Bureau implied in the document).

Who is affected

  • Designated contract markets (DCMs) operating in Iowa.
  • Market participants who trade on these markets, including:
    • Individuals who may self-exclude.
    • Officers, employees, and their family members of market operators.
    • Individuals with inside information or connected to settlement sources.
    • Public employees or officials and lobbyists who trade in contracts tied to legislation or governmental actions.
  • Settlement sources from which market outcomes are determined.
  • Advertisers and marketers for these markets, due to advertising restrictions and required warnings.
  • General public and at-risk traders through accessible information about gambling resources and time-tracking features.

Procedural and timeline aspects

  • Legislative status and actions

    • Introduced and placed on the Ways and Means calendar.
    • Committee reported with approval (as of 2026-04-15).

  • Operational requirements timeline (implied)

    • Markets must establish, maintain, and publish the comprehensive list of settlement sources.
    • Implement responsible trading measures and advertising requirements prior to or concurrent with enforcement.
    • Enforce exclusion and self-exclusion policies as part of ongoing market operations.

Potential impact and considerations

  • Strengthens transparency in how contract outcomes are determined by requiring disclosure of settlement sources.
  • Tightens eligibility and monitoring standards to reduce conflicts of interest and insider trading risk.
  • Expands protections for at-risk traders through configurable personal limits, time-tracking features, and mandatory harm-minimization messaging.
  • Introduces stricter advertising controls to prevent misleading representations and underage targeting.
  • Likely increases compliance burden on DCMs, including recordkeeping for settlement sources and implementation of explicit exclusion lists and responsible trading tools.

If you’d like, I can extract specific statutory language from the bill once available or compare these provisions to existing Iowa gambling or market integrity laws.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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