ProShares has announced that its two leveraged oil ETFs will adopt a new underlying index in a bid to make the products more resilient to future disruption in crude oil markets.

The United States Oil Fund (USO US), the largest ETP globally to track changes in oil prices, is facing a regulatory reckoning after the SEC recommended that the fund and its management face enforcement action.

United States Commodity Funds (USCF) has announced substantial new changes to the investment strategy of the $3.6 billion United States Oil Fund (USO US), the largest ETF worldwide to provide exposure to oil prices. In a series of filings, USCF has revised the fund’s mandate to invest in a mix of WTI futures contracts with delivery dates stretching out as far as June 2021. It has also revised the contract roll process, extending the roll period from four to ten days, and expanded the mandate to include futures contracts for different types of oil and petroleum-based fuel.

Oil ETFs suffered sizable losses yesterday amid increased volatility as the rout, which at the start of the week sent the expiring West Texas Intermediate May delivery futures contract into negative territory, spread to contracts for later months. ETPs such as the United States Oil Fund (USO US) and WisdomTree WTI Crude Oil ETC (CRUD LN), which largely swerved Monday’s cataclysmic crash having rolled their exposure to June and July futures, felt the full brunt of yesterday’s sell-off, closing down 40% and 29% respectively.

Front-month US oil futures contracts crashed a staggering 307% yesterday with prices nosediving deep into negative territory for the first time in history. A barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil for May delivery fell from its Friday close of $18.27 to a mind-boggling -$37.63 (as of Monday’s close), effectively meaning sellers were paying buyers to take their oil. While many futures traders will undoubtedly have suffered cataclysmic losses, major ETFs tracking WTI crude oil contracts were largely spared from the carnage – they had already rolled their oil contracts into June or beyond.

United States Commodity Funds has announced an immediate change to the investment strategy of the $4.9 billion United States Oil Fund (USO US), the largest ETF providing exposure to oil prices. Whereas USO previously invested exclusively in front-month futures contracts for West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the fund will henceforth dedicate 20% of its assets to tracking second-month contracts. The move offers pros and cons for investors.

Oil traders for the last two weeks have shrugged off reports that U.S. stockpiles are brimming at their largest levels ever recorded, as the market continues to bet that crude prices will climb higher. Oil has maintained its buoyancy because the market is betting that cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will largely rebalance the oil market, despite continued production increases from shale formations in the United States.

Global exchange-traded fund provider iShares has suspended the creation of new shares in its iShares Gold ETF (NYSE Arca: IAU) after a surge in investor demand caused a temporary exhaustion of shares currently registered with the US Securities & Exchange Commission. The ETF, which experienced a larger amount of creation activity during February than it has in any one month over the last decade, saw its assets expand by $1.4bn year-to-date, bringing total AUM above $7.7bn (as of 4 March 2016). Investors have turned to safe-haven assets, such as gold amid heightened market volatility across global equities since the beginning of the year.

Schwab has become the first major firm to launch a full-service 401(k) program based on low-cost exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Steve Anderson, head of Schwab Retirement Plan Services, estimates a 401(k) plan using index ETFs can reduce investment expenses by more than 90 percent compared to a typical 401(k) plan that primarily uses actively managed mutual funds, and by more than 30 percent compared to a 401(k) plan that uses index mutual funds.

Brokerage firm Charles Schwab has added 16 new exchange-traded funds to its Schwab ETF OneSource platform. Launched in February, the platform enables investors and advisors to buy and sell 121 ETFs commission-free. The platform includes ETFs from six leading providers: SPDR ETFs, Guggenheim, PowerShares, ETF Securities, United States Commodity Funds, and Charles Schwab.