TLDR
- Apple added a prediction market ban to its insider trading policy.
- The rule appeared in Apple’s fiscal 2026 Form 10-K filing.
- It covers secrets about suppliers, vendors, and carriers too.
- Former and fired employees must also follow the rule.
- Prediction market daily volume rose 55% in October to over $4 billion.
Apple has added a new rule to its insider trading policy that reaches beyond the stock market. The company now bars employees from using confidential information to trade on prediction markets.
The change appeared in Apple’s fiscal 2026 Form 10-K, published this week. The annual filing covers the company’s finances, business, and risks, and it included a revised version of the insider trading policy.
What the New Policy Covers
Under the policy, employees cannot use prediction markets or similar platforms to wager, bet, trade, buy, or sell contracts tied to future events when Apple Confidential Information is involved. The rule also covers entering into event contracts in any other way.
The ban is not limited to information about Apple itself. It also covers confidential details about companies Apple works with, including suppliers, manufacturers, vendors, customers such as cellular network carriers, and other business partners.
Employees are also barred from sharing or tipping confidential information to other people who might use it on these markets. Apple says its confidential information includes, but is not limited to, material nonpublic information.
The policy applies whether or not the conduct would count as insider trading or securities trading under the law. The rule works as a company policy that stands apart from securities rules.
Former Employees Are Included
The rules do not end when a person leaves Apple. According to the policy, the restrictions also apply to people who have left the company or have been fired.
There is a clear limit on how long information stays off limits. Once Apple publicly announces a product, service, or update, the restrictions no longer apply to that information.
At that point, the details are in the public domain. The policy states that public information no longer gives anyone a basis for an informed wager.
Prediction market companies such as Kalshi and Polymarket already have their own rules against insider trading. Large tech firms, including Apple, have not had rules as well established for this type of activity.
Apple joins a number of companies that are putting similar security policies in place. The growth of prediction markets has created new chances for fraud and insider trading.
Concern over the practice has also reached the federal government. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Pentagon staff about insider trading on these platforms.
Hegseth said the activity could expose sensitive military plans to foreign actors. His warning was aimed at staff inside the Pentagon.
The new Apple rule arrives as trading activity on prediction markets keeps rising. The sector set a new record in October.
Average daily trading volume rose 55% during the month. Daily trades reached more than $4 billion on average.
