Regulators are coming at the industry from every angle this week, with prediction markets once again at the centre of a widening federal-state showdown.

A trio of Congressional Democrats introduced the most sweeping attempt yet to outlaw event contracts, landing just as trading volumes have quintupled in barely half a year. Enforcement ramped up across continents, from the Philippines' first round-the-clock problem gambling helpline to an Australian state targeting gambling influencers for the first time. Elsewhere, Austria charted a course to dismantle its decades-old monopoly and Brazil moved to wire its enforcement agencies together ahead of the World Cup.

Let's dive into this week's Regulation Roundup!

Prediction Markets

• Senators Merkley and Warren and Rep Raskin introduce STOP Corrupt Bets Act to outlaw sports, election and war event contracts.
  
  The bill, filed in the Senate as S.4226 on June 2, would prohibit CFTC-registered platforms from listing prediction market contracts on a long list of subjects including athletic events, card and dice outcomes, federal and state elections, war and natural disasters, legal proceedings and deaths. It represents the most expansive federal attempt yet to draw a hard line between commodity hedging and event wagering and lands days after the Senate Commerce subcommittee's No Sure Bets hearing. The bill is unlikely to pass in this Congress but escalates the federal-state regulatory fight and may shape the next CFTC rulemaking.

• Kalshi launches political power index as Pew Research finds prediction market volumes have soared since mid-2025.
  
  Axios reported on May 28 that Kalshi has rolled out a Political Power Index that blends current control of the White House, Senate and House with its own real-time event contract odds on future elections. The launch came a day after Pew Research published a brief showing combined monthly trading volume on Kalshi and Polymarket has risen from roughly five billion dollars in September 2025 to around twenty four billion in April 2026. The data underlines the scale at which event contracts have moved into mainstream political and financial conversations even as Congress and states attempt to rein the products in.

Enforcement and Compliance

• Philippines PAGCOR launches first 24/7 National Problem Gambling Helpline staffed by trained para-counsellors.
  
  PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro Tengco confirmed the launch of the National Problem Gambling Helpline (NPGH) during the week, with twelve para-counsellors working in three shifts a day from the regulator's Pasay City corporate office. The hotline, operated in partnership with the Seagulls Flock Organization, offers psychological first aid, triage and referrals for affected players and their families. The launch is the most visible consumer-protection step yet under PAGCOR's pivot from operator to pure regulator and follows recent caps on e-gaming cashback and rebate promotions.

• UAE's GCGRA grants gaming-related vendor licences to IGT and Cammegh, taking total to 21 approved suppliers.
  
  On May 29, the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority added IGT (the post-merger entity now owned by Apollo and Everi) and premium gaming table supplier Cammegh Limited to its list of Gaming-Related Vendor Licensees. The new licences sit alongside approvals already in place for Aristocrat, Light & Wonder, Novomatic, Konami, Scientific Games, Brightstar Lottery and others. The build out of B2B licensees lays the groundwork for Wynn Al Marjan Island, the first integrated resort, which is on track to open in Ras Al Khaimah in 2027.

Emerging Markets

• Australia's Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission warns gambling influencers and weighs legal action over illegal promotion.
  
  VGCCC Chief Executive Suzy Neilan said the regulator is now contacting social media influencers directly to flag the legal risks of posting poker machine play, venue visits or winnings, with fines of up to A$24,421 available per breach of the Gambling Regulation Act 2003. Officials specifically called out content aimed at 18 to 24 year olds that downplays the harm associated with poker machines and sports betting apps. The action mirrors the federal ACMA's existing campaign and marks the first time a state regulator has publicly considered enforcement against individual creators rather than just licensed operators.

• Italy's AGCOM opens consultation on stealth gambling marketing and affiliate loopholes as ADM blocks another 146 unauthorised domains.
  
  AGCOM confirmed this week the launch of a formal consultation on responsible gambling communications, following more than twenty stakeholder submissions on what counts as informational versus promotional content under the Dignity Decree advertising ban. The regulator is expected to tighten interpretations around bonuses, odds boosts, VIP programmes, influencer campaigns and affiliate activity, with potential fines ranging from five thousand to half a million euros. In parallel, the ADM added 146 domains to its unauthorised gambling site blacklist, taking the 2026 total beyond five hundred.

• UK Gambling Commission arrests two in raid on suspected Manchester city centre gambling den.
  
  On May 28, Greater Manchester Police, Gambling Commission enforcement officers and Manchester City Council Licensing officials executed a joint operation at a premises in Chester Road, seizing gambling tables, chips, records, account books, alcohol, cash and mobile phones. A 33-year-old man and a 66-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of offences under the Gambling Act 2005 and the Licensing Act 2003. The bust is one of the first visible outputs of the new DCMS Illegal Gambling Taskforce and the twenty six million pound Treasury enforcement programme announced earlier this month.

Tax and Legislative Changes

• Austria draft bill sets pathway for 2029 online gambling liberalisation, ending Casinos Austria monopoly.
  
  A draft bill prepared by Austria's Federal Ministry of Finance and reported on May 29 would dismantle Casinos Austria's online sports betting and casino monopoly, opening the regulated market to EU-licensed operators under a new independent gambling authority. Existing licences are expected to be extended by two years to allow for orderly transition, placing the start of the new regime around 2029, with licence numbers uncapped for online gaming. The reform is backed by the SPO, OVP and NEOS tripartite coalition and is targeted to clear parliamentary process by summer 2026.

• UK Gambling Commission pushes back second phase of deposit limit rule changes from 30 June to 30 September.
  
  Citing stakeholder feedback and technical implementation challenges, the Commission confirmed on May 27 that the new Remote Technical Standards on gross deposit limits will now apply from 30 September 2026. From that date, operators must offer gross deposit limits, reserve the term deposit limit for that form of cap, and present it with at least equal prominence to any other financial limit. The extension is the second material delay to the Commission's customer-led tools timeline since the LCCP reforms began.

• Brazil's Federal Court of Accounts directs SPA to set up permanent inter-institutional coordination with Anatel, Central Bank, COAF and prosecutors.
  
  On May 29 the Tribunal de Contas da Uniao approved Ruling 1296/2026, requiring the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets to establish a permanent coordination mechanism that integrates Anatel, the Central Bank, the Council for Financial Activities Control (COAF), the Federal Revenue Service and criminal prosecution bodies to detect, block and sanction unauthorised operators. The Central Bank and SPA are also directed to strengthen the sanctioning regime against banks and payment service providers that repeatedly facilitate transactions for unlicensed bookmakers. The ruling crystallises a more aggressive cross-agency enforcement architecture ahead of the FIFA World Cup.

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