The threat of increased regulation from the Commodities Futures Trading Commission continues to impact the ETF industry.

Rather than shutting down futures-based DBA and DBC, two other popular commodities ETFs from PowerShares and Deutsche Bank (DB), fund managers decided to restructure the underlying portfolios in order to stay within position limits. The CFTC altered the course of these two funds with new “safety position limits” and the revocation of an exemption that previously governed the fund’s futures-buying capabilities.

Physically backed ETFs such as iShares Comex Gold (IAU) could play a greater role in the ETF universe as investor interest in commodities increases and uncertainty hangs over derivatives-based products. ETF Securities, a global ETF issuer, recently launched both the ETFS Silver Trust (SIVR) and ETFS Gold Trust (SGOL) to compete with entrenched competitors like IAU and SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) in the U.S.

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http://seekingalpha.com/article/166538-the-commodities-etf-crackdown-continues?source=email