Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Banning Event Trading on Sensitive Operations and Federal Functions Act” or the “BETS OFF Act”.
Banning Event Trading on Sensitive Operations and Federal Functions Act
A BILL
To ban certain types of wagers.
Sec. 2 Definitions
In this Act:
Specified event— The term specified event means—
an act of terrorism;
an assassination;
a war; or
any event—
the primary underlying characteristic of which is not financial, commercial, or economic; and
that is an action taken by any government, unit of government, intergovernmental organization, or government official;
the outcome of which is under the complete control of any person; or
the outcome of which is known by any person in advance.
Wager— The term wager—
means the staking or risking by any person of something of value upon the outcome of an event, including the outcome of any portion or aspect thereof, upon an agreement or understanding that the person or another person will receive something of value in the event of a certain outcome; and
does not include insurance for which the insured holds a lawful insurable interest—
under State law, within the meaning of the Act entitled “An Act to express the intent of the Congress with reference to the regulation of the business of insurance”, approved March 9, 1945 (commonly known as the “McCarran-Ferguson Act”; 15 U.S.C. 1011 et seq.);
under foreign law, with respect—
to risks located outside the United States; or
the reinsurance of risks covered under clause (i); or
under Federal law, including under—
the Terrorism Insurance Program established under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 6701 note; Public Law 107–297);
the National Flood Insurance Program established under the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.); or
the Federal crop insurance program established under the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.).
Sec. 3 Prohibited conduct
Prohibition— It shall be unlawful for any person to place, accept, or facilitate the placement or acceptance of a wager regarding a specified event.
Civil action— The Attorney General may bring a civil action for injunctive relief in an appropriate district court of the United States against any person who violates subsection (a).
Sec. 4 Amendments
Interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises— Section 1952(b)(i)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after “gambling” the following: “(including conduct prohibited by section 3(a) of the BETS OFF Act)”.
Prohibition of illegal gambling businesses— Section 1955(b) of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
in paragraph (1)(i), by inserting “section 3(a) of the BETS OFF Act or” after “is a violation of”; and
in paragraph (4), by inserting “conducted prohibited by section 3(a) of the BETS OFF Act,” after “gambling includes but is not limited to”.
Prohibition on funding of unlawful internet gambling— Section 5362(1) of title 31, United States Code, is amended—
in subparagraph (D), by striking “and” at the end;
by redesignating subparagraph (E) as subparagraph (F); and
by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following:
“(E) includes conduct prohibited by section 3(a) of the BETS OFF Act, without regard to subparagraph (F) of this paragraph; and”
Common provisions applicable to registered entities— Section 5c(c)(5) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 7a–2(c)(5)) is amended—
in subparagraph (C)(i)—
by striking subclauses (II), (III), and (IV); and
by redesignating subclauses (V) and (VI) as subclauses (II) and (III), respectively; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(D) Prohibition relating to specified events—Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no agreement, contract, transaction, or swap involving any specified event, as defined in section 2 of the BETS OFF Act (or any index, measure, value, or data related thereto, or occurrence, extent of an occurrence, or contingency based thereon), may be listed or made available for clearing or trading on or through a registered entity.”
Sec. 5 Severability
If any provision of this Act or amendment made by this Act, or the application of such provision or amendment to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act and the amendments made by this Act, and the application of the provision or amendment to any other person or circumstance, shall not be affected.
Sec. 6 Effective date
This Act shall take effect on the date that is 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act.