United States Natural Gas (UNG) exchange traded fund (ETF) has gotten the long-awaited approval to issue new shares, but the providers behind it have decided they won’t do so.
After a controversial round with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the ETF that tracks natural gas futures finally has been granted clearance to issue another 1 billion shares, explains John Spence for MarketWatch. The ETF provider, however, has decided not to issue them after all.
The fund’s provider explained its decision by citing “current and anticipated new regulatory restrictions and limitations” that could be put forth by the CFTC.
UNG and other futures-based commodity ETFs had been accused of pushing the price of natural gas and other commodities higher because of speculation and loose regulation. The CFTC has yet to make a final ruling on those questions, however.