GOLDMAN SACHS BANS EMPLOYEES FROM BETTING ON PREDICTION MARKETS

[Orpichukwu]

This approach taken by Goldman should also be emulated by other big organisations which know that information from their organisations can be used by their employees, like the recent case of a Google employee making $1.2m from a prediction market for having access to information which is not yet public; at least it will limit the involvement of employees from taking advantage of the information they have in such situations.

Goldman Sachs has updated its personal trading policy to ban employees from wagering on prediction market contracts, according to Bloomberg. Employees at Goldman Sachs are now prohibited from placing prediction market bets on event contracts involving specific companies, electoral outcomes, financial market performance, macroeconomic data, and geopolitics, after the bank revised its personal trading rules, Bloomberg reports. Sports and entertainment bets remain permitted under the policy.

The good thing here is that the company only limits its workers from the type of events they can stake on but does not entirely stop them from betting, which is the same thing as respecting the employees' rights at the same time as protecting the company from anything that could result in conflict.

[_act_]

What about predicting bitcoin price and other predictions like gold, ethereum, solana, crude oil and similar ones? I do not see any good reason their workers should not bet on some assets that their workers can not manipulate. I prefer to bet on sports on gambling sites, but I visited prediction market because I want to bet on bitcoin price.

[bakasabo]

It was always a question for me why would a company interfere in personal life. Why cant employee go home, watch financial news, think about chances and make prediction that market will go up or down ? A bigger question, how would a company find out that their employees are placing predictions? Are they stalking their employees? Can a bet be a reflection of bettors own opinion, experience, free choice? Turns out not, because it is prohibited.

[Judith87403]

If players and sportsmen are ban from gambling or betting on sports then definitely, employees and staffs of big organizations should literally follow the same rules and guidelines in order to uphold the integrity of the prediction market. Especially those who have access to confidential information as well as the ability to influence decisions, because they can easily be tempted to cheat the system for their own personal gain.

[Russlenat]

They can ban employees from betting, but those employees could still share information with others for money or find people to bet for them.

That is what greedy people do. They will always find a way to benefit, especially if they are already in a position where they can get useful information.
That is called insider information, and it is very useful not only in trading but also in betting.

[Karl_3000]

It was always a question for me why would a company interfere in personal life. Why cant employee go home, watch financial news, think about chances and make prediction that market will go up or down ? A bigger question, how would a company find out that their employees are placing predictions? Are they stalking their employees? Can a bet be a reflection of bettors own opinion, experience, free choice? Turns out not, because it is prohibited.

Another thing is that there are people that will make use of Polymarket without KYC and they will be from United States. They are doing it against the prediction market rules but they are not known.

If someone still try all the way to bet on the site anonymously, but if the company know, the first thing is that they will first warn the person.

I think the company only used it to make something known to people.

[rdluffy]

It’s a normal and expected practice at the bank, since they can use certain insider information to make money
This type of bank likely has a lot of information about large money transfers that could influence the market

However, I always think it’s easy to circumvent if users / employees use a third party to place their bets or make their predictions 

[Porfirii]

When I read the title, the first thing I thought was that it would be a draconian measure and that no employer has the right to impose on their workers what they can or cannot do in the private sphere; But, seeing that these are cases in which employees could benefit from privileged information, it seems to me a very necessary measure.

The added problem, but which is not exclusive to prediction markets, as we also see it in sports betting with fixed matches, is how to guarantee that family and/or friends of these workers do not benefit from the advice they may receive with that same information.

From the beginning prediction platforms want to differentiate themselves from bets or gambling to enjoy a better image and fewer tax burdens, but in reality they are much worse, because at least in gambling or sports betting all players usually have the same options to win.

[Alex077]

This approach taken by Goldman should also be emulated by other big organisations which know that information from their organisations can be used by their employees, like the recent case of a Google employee making $1.2m from a prediction market for having access to information which is not yet public; at least it will limit the involvement of employees from taking advantage of the information they have in such situations...

I think this is a pretty reasonable decision, because if employees have access to inside information or can learn about something before the rest of the market, taking part in prediction markets tied to financial events creates an obvious conflict of interest and could easily attract regulatory scrutiny.
They’re not stopping employees from betting altogether-just keeping them away from sensitive prediction markets. In my opinion this allows people to continue enjoying their hobby without putting the bank’s reputation or compliance obligations at risk.
And  as a result platforms like Polymarket become more popular, the line between investing, prediction markets, and gambling is getting increasingly blurred. Because of that, many employers will probably want to eliminate any potential conflicts of interest before they become a problem.

[Tungbulu]

What about predicting bitcoin price and other predictions like gold, ethereum, solana, crude oil and similar ones? I do not see any good reason their workers should not bet on some assets that their workers can not manipulate. I prefer to bet on sports on gambling sites, but I visited prediction market because I want to bet on bitcoin price.

Giving access to always visit the prediction market more often even if they are not betting on assets they can’t actually manipulate is fine and okay, but we all know that one day they’ll definitely be tempted. It’s just like giving someone a meal ticket at work to go to the cafeteria and eat every other food on the menu but not to eat chicken or any kind of protein, surely they’ll be tempted one day to add protein to their meal and what happens if they can’t conquer that urge?

[Orpichukwu]

What about predicting bitcoin price and other predictions like gold, ethereum, solana, crude oil and similar ones? I do not see any good reason their workers should not bet on some assets that their workers can not manipulate. I prefer to bet on sports on gambling sites, but I visited prediction market because I want to bet on bitcoin price.

They did not entirely stop their workers from betting or using prediction markets; they just limited the workers on the activities and events which they can bet on. The company is protecting itself and the interest of its investors at the same time. They are also not taking the right of the workers from them since they have access to some privileged information of the company; the company is trying to make sure they don’t commercialise it.

[Dunamisx]

This approach taken by Goldman should also be emulated by other big organisations which know that information from their organisations can be used by their employees, like the recent case of a Google employee making $1.2m from a prediction market for having access to information which is not yet public; at least it will limit the involvement of employees from taking advantage of the information they have in such situations.

All this happenings are part of the reasons why prediction market cannot be trusted because the process is not duly transferable, imagine inside us taking advantage of this, all because they got information leak and go ahead to make a prediction, same applies to those that are even in high profile, they already know the state of affairs of things before they brought them out under prediction market and this is where we cannot take it as the same thing as gambling.

[Ishicryptic]

A bigger question, how would a company find out that their employees are placing predictions? Are they stalking their employees? Can a bet be a reflection of bettors own opinion, experience, free choice? Turns out not, because it is prohibited.

I've asked myself this question too about how Goldman Sachs will know when their employees places bets on prediction sites, if they can trace huge wins to know if the winner is one of their employees that would be intruding into their workers privacies. Another question is whether Goldman Sachs will also monitor the family and friends of their employees because their staff who is preview to some information can reveal it to somebody to trade or bet on their behalf. I think that steps such as this by Goldman Sachs would limit their employees from being involved insider trading but it cannot totally eliminate it. As far as staff of companies and government agencies have uncensored conversations with their family and friends inside trading cannot totally be eliminated.

[Die_empty]

The good thing here is that the company only limits its workers from the type of events they can stake on but does not entirely stop them from betting, which is the same thing as respecting the employees' rights at the same time as protecting the company from anything that could result in conflict.

This is a good move, and I expect more organisations and even the goverment to place such restrictions. It is unfair for common gamblers to be placing contracts genuinely; insiders are making money fraudulently. The preiction market will always be prone to manippulations but taking these preventive steps would go a long way. The company shouldnt just ban thier employees, relations and freinds should also be restricted.

[shinratensei_]

It's wise decision. Limiting their employess to bet only on entertainment and sport indirectly telling us their employees are holding various information related to the politic, economic events and etc. So it's ethical to disallowed them to bet on such type event.
This is also showing how they were learning from google's employees case. So i put respect to the Goldman Sachs by doing this.

I've heard rumor that so many people who were on the Kalshi top LB were big companies employess because they trade used insiders. So this may motivate other companies to do the same too.
They deserve some appreciations. I hope this stops their employees to rob their retails.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

I like the fact that the ban doesn't completely prevents the employees from betting on other events but rather only prevents them from betting on certain events or companies events which includes events coming up from Goldman. Some persons in this company will still find a way to use inner information and bet on the company without using their accounts or ID but rather they will pass the information to someone and hand then some money so they can place the bet.

[Sanitough]

However, I always think it’s easy to circumvent if users / employees use a third party to place their bets or make their predictions 

This is what I think. They can still find someone else to bet for them, while they only supply the information.

Since you said it is easy to circumvent the rules if users use a third party, would you care to share how easy it really is? And more importantly, how will they ensure that no such information will leak?

Those who are planning to leak information should be afraid of the consequences once they get caught. That is why the bank must have strong monitoring and heavy punishment.

[Mhizlove]

What about predicting bitcoin price and other predictions like gold, ethereum, solana, crude oil and similar ones? I do not see any good reason their workers should not bet on some assets that their workers can not manipulate. I prefer to bet on sports on gambling sites, but I visited prediction market because I want to bet on bitcoin price.

For me, I will say even though workers can not directly manipulate the price of assets like gold or bitcoin, companies can still create rules to avoid any appearance of unfair advantage or conflicts of interest. So it just to protect the platforms reputation and users trust. You see for players, the prediction market can be interesting, but it's still very important to remember that the market can react to unplanned news at any time. So risk management is suppose to come first, no matter how confident someone tend to be.

[Zadicar]

They can ban employees from betting, but those employees could still share information with others for money or find people to bet for them.

That is what greedy people do. They will always find a way to benefit, especially if they are already in a position where they can get useful information.
That is called insider information, and it is very useful not only in trading but also in betting.

Was supposed to say the same thing on which they can ban all they want but once those informations internally be known by the employee then it can really be shared out with other people.

Of course they wouldnt really be trying out to share into their relatives or whateverr degree of the family tree considering that this could really be investigated, but rather they would really be sharing it out with someone whom arent blood related and this could really be still exploited out, and this is why i would say these kind of prohibitions is a bit that useless on which just like been said that as long these informations known then it will really be susceptible to be shared up and its inevitable even if they would be making up those bans or whatever prohibitions into it.

[Alpha Marine]

It was always a question for me why would a company interfere in personal life. Why cant employee go home, watch financial news, think about chances and make prediction that market will go up or down ? A bigger question, how would a company find out that their employees are placing predictions? Are they stalking their employees? Can a bet be a reflection of bettors own opinion, experience, free choice? Turns out not, because it is prohibited.

I think I can understand the point of view of the company. They work in an environment where they are privy to certain information. Using that privilege to make bets is not in favour of the company. Some of the information may even be the client's information, which should be kept within the company. It doesn't make sense to use a client's information to make money in a prediction market.

In a setting like this, it's not like they will be monitoring the employees' every move; it's more a case of "whoever is caught will be made an example of".
They did not make an inhumane law, so I don't see anything wrong with it. They have the right to make certain rules that guide their business. The employees and public don't have to like it, but if they feel it would make their business run better, and it's not against the law or inhumane, then it's their right.