{
  "id": 6150175,
  "title": "UK Considers Easing Restrictions on Prediction Markets",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/07/uk-considers-easing-restrictions-on-prediction-markets",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-07T16:48:05.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PYMNTS",
    "slug": "pymnts",
    "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/legal/2026/united-kingdom-considers-easing-restrictions-prediction-markets/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The United Kingdom is contemplating lifting its seven-year-old ban on prediction markets, according to The Times. Trading platforms have been in discussions with regulators about easing the restriction, the report stated, noting that the trend follows a rise in U.K. consumers using U.S. sites like Kalshi and Polymarket. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has received arguments for potentially lifting the ban, the report added. The regulator prohibits financial prediction markets for retail investors due to concerns that customers could suffer significant losses and that traders may not grasp the risks involved. The ban was implemented in 2019 due to worries about heavy losses and unclear risk perception for traders. Industry insiders have been working to overturn the ban by presenting evidence of millions of U.K. consumers using prediction markets overseas and warning that shifting the business offshore puts traders at risk of unregulated firms. A government source commented, \"It's like most prohibitions—they are largely ineffective,\" adding that regulators, who have a duty to prevent consumer harm, are inadvertently driving consumers to unregulated operators. The FCA has not commented on the matter but referred PYMNTS to its perimeter report, which outlines the authority's regulation stance. According to the report, the FCA considers financial prediction market products (PMPs) as binary options and maintains its permanent ban on the sale of such products to retail consumers due to their speculative, gambling-like nature and the high risk of consumer harm. However, to offer financial and political wagers in the U.K., prediction markets would face challenges, including ending the binary option ban and obtaining a gambling license for political events. Meanwhile, 20 U.S. states are involved in litigation around prediction markets, and 44 states have signed a letter criticizing them.",
  "summary": "The United Kingdom’s 7-year-old ban on prediction markets could be coming to an end, The Times reported Friday (Sept. 4). Regulators have held discussions with trading platforms about possibly easing the ban, according to the report, which said the move comes as U.K. consumers increasingly use United States prediction sites like Kalshi and Polymarket. […] The post UK Considers Easing Restrictions…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}