Case 1:25-cv-01283-ABA Document 29 Filed 05/19/25 Page 9 of 17
occurrence” of a defined “event” “ other than a change in price, rate, value , or levels of a commodity.” See 7 U.S.C. § 7a-2(c)(5)(C)(i) (emphasis added). 2. The purposes of the CEA require preemption of state gaming laws as applied to trading on DCMs. As both the District of Nevada and the District of New Jersey found, Congress in 1974 granted the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction over futures traded on designated exchanges because it was “concerned that the states . . . might step in to regulate the futures markets themselves.” Am. Agric. Movement v. Bd. of Trade , 977 F.2d 1147, 1156 (7th Cir. 1992), abrogated on other grounds by Time Warner Cable v. Doyle , 66 F.3d 867, 875 (7th Cir. 1995). Congress intended to bring exchanges “under a uniform set of regulations” because “a contract market could not operate efficiently, and perhaps not at all,” if subject to competing legal regimes. Id. The conference report to the 1974 Amendments eliminated any doubt: “Under the exclusive grant of jurisdiction,” the CEA “would preempt the field insofar as futures regulation is concerned .” CFTC Act of 1974 Committee Report, U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, 93rd Cong., 2d Sess., at 11 (Nov. 15, 1974) (emphasis added). Defendants do not dispute that Congress sought to subject trading on DCMs to a single set of federal regulations rather than concurrent state and federal regulations. Defendants instead argue that this legislative purpose is irrelevant because “swaps” were not added to the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction until 2010. But Defendants concede (at 19) that Congress in 1974 granted the CFTC “exclusive jurisdiction” over “accounts” and “agreements” on DCMs. See 7 U.S.C. § 2(a)(1)(A). Defendants also concede (at 25) that Congress preserved state law only “except” as provided in the “exclusive jurisdiction” provision. Thus, when Congress added “swaps” to the exclusive jurisdiction provision in 2010, it plainly intended to preempt state law as to swaps traded on DCMs. The addition of swaps in 2010 is especially strong evidence of Congress’s
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