Federal enforcement
In the Matter of Gabriel Perez
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (administrative proceeding), CFTC Docket No. 26-06
Settled
Settled on Aug. 28, 2026 by an administrative order under CEA Section 6(c) and (d), which Perez accepted without admitting or denying the findings: disgorgement of $107,539.02, a $65,000 civil penalty reduced for cooperation and payable in installments, a three-year trading ban and a cease-and-desist order.
The question
Whether trading 'mention' contracts on what the President will say, using advance access to speech content, is misappropriation of material nonpublic information under the CEA.
The CFTC filed and settled insider-trading charges against Gabriel Perez on Aug. 28, 2026. It found that between December 2025 and March 2026, while working as a White House teleprompter operator with advance access to presidential speeches, he traded Kalshi contracts that settle on words the President uses, misusing material nonpublic information in breach of a duty of trust and confidence. The order cites CEA Sections 4c(a)(3), 4c(a)(4)(C) and 6(c)(1) and Regulation 180.1. Without admitting or denying the findings, he agreed to pay about $172,000, with the penalty reduced for cooperation, and to a three-year trading ban.
Docket timeline
The CFTC entered a settled order (CFTC Docket No. 26-06) finding violations of CEA Sections 4c(a)(3), 4c(a)(4)(C) and 6(c)(1) and Regulation 180.1(a)(1) and (3), with disgorgement of $107,539.02, a $65,000 civil monetary penalty and a three-year trading ban.
Source: cftc.gov