Apple bars staff from prediction-market trades using company info

Apple is prohibiting staff and contractors from trading nonpublic information on prediction markets. In a new Form 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Apple includes an extensive section on insider trading prohibitions that addresses prediction markets. According to the filing cited by Casino.org, staff are told not to participate in prediction markets or similar platforms to wager, bet, trade, buy or sell contracts based on the outcome of future events when such activity involves the use of Apple confidential information. Apple also says staff must not tip Apple Confidential Information to others who may participate in such markets. The prohibition applies whether or not the activity constitutes insider trading or securities trading under applicable laws.

Scope and related context

Casino.org reported the company does not say if staff can still transact in other event contracts, such as sports derivatives. Earlier this year, a former software engineer at Google was slapped with federal insider trading charges after allegedly using nonpublic information to make $1.2 million on Polymarket. Casino.org noted the timing arrives about three weeks after the SEC approved key performance indicator (KPI) event contracts developed by Cboe Global Markets for trading on Robinhood. Those derivatives, of which there could be 100 or more, are tied to KPIs on a batch of 23 public companies, of which Apple is one.