The delivery test blocked cash-settled index futures as illegal in the US.

Evidence

Since an index was an abstraction, there was no straightforward way in which an index future could be settled other than in cash. In 1968, Sullivan and two leading members of the Chicago Board of Trade consulted securities lawyer Milton Cohen about the feasibility of a Dow Jones futures contract. Cohen advised against proceeding: the contract would violate Illinois law (Falloon 1998, pp. 209-210). — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 641

Categorization

• QUESTION: When and how did the delivery test get overturned or circumvented to make the later stock-index futures legal? This sets up the key pivot in the chapter.
• XREF: connects to: Cash-settled index futures were barred by legal logic until decades into the century — Donald MacKenzie & Yuval Millo, Constructing a Market, Performing Theory, 58; Cash settlement allowed index futures to evade securities regulation. — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 766; Whether futures contracts count as wagers determined whether they were illegal. — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 638

Broader Connections

• Cash settlement allowed index futures to evade securities regulation. #contradicts (0.92) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 766
• Whether futures contracts count as wagers determined whether they were illegal. #expands (0.85) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 638