Key Takeaways ESMA said event contracts that qualify as financial instruments are already barred from EU retail sale under binary-options rules. The prohibition rests on national measures in force since 2018, so no new legislation is required to apply it. Two regulatory tracks, both already in force In a public statement issued on July 3, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) set out how existing EU law applies to event contracts, the yes-or-no instruments underpinning prediction markets. Its central conclusion is that many of these contracts are not a novel product category requiring new rules, but already fall within …