Stepping up surveillance

When its natural gas trading strategy went wrong in September last year, Greenwich, Connecticut-based hedge fund Amaranth Advisors lost $6 billion in two weeks. The collapse highlighted the risks of investing in hedge funds, but it also alerted the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to the dangers of sudden upheaval in vital commodity markets, such as oil and gas.

From February this year, the CFTC has been gathering information on all positions on certain natural gas contracts traded