MEMX files proposed rule change for securities event contracts with SEC
Members Exchange (MEMX) has filed a proposed rule change with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list and trade securities event contracts. The filing, designated SR-MEMX-2026-25, describes these instruments as standardized options that reference an issuer event. MEMX says the proposal aims to address a gap in current market offerings. The filing adds to the ongoing debate over how securities-based event contracts should be classified and which regulator has oversight authority.
MEMX is an equities exchange, not a CFTC-registered event-contract venue, so this filing could force the SEC to take a formal position on event contracts for the first time. That matters for Kalshi and Polymarket because SEC involvement would create a second regulatory layer beyond CFTC registration. The SEC has so far stayed quiet while the CFTC approved sports and crypto contracts.
A SEC approval here would bless the product type under securities law; a rejection or delay would let the CFTC keep claiming sole jurisdiction. The SR-MEMX-2026-25 docket number gives traders and compliance teams a concrete filing to monitor for signals. Platforms now face scattered risk: CFTC rules for their existing contracts, possible SEC rules for equity-linked ones, and no clear line between the two. MEMX's filing makes that overlap explicit rather than theoretical.
The MEMX filing joins recent action by Kalshi that also tests the SEC-CFTC jurisdictional boundary, as both venues now push the question of which regulator controls event contracts structured as binary options.