Deutsche Bank is on course to turn over more than $1bn in farm commodity contracts from October 19 as it cuts its positions to comply with a US regulatory clampdown, research by Agrimoney.com has revealed.

Sugar will bear the brunt of the switch by two of the bank's commodity funds into tracking new indices based around a broader range of agricultural commodities.

The new index that one of the funds, the $2.2bn Powershares DB Agriculture Fund, will follow has a weighting of only 12.5% sugar. The fund's current weighting is 39.4%.

The sugar switch implies contracts worth $600m will be disposed of, although it is not clear how the operation will take place.

A sister fund, the $3.3bn PowerShares DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund, is to take on a 5.6% weighting in sugar.

'Transitioning' period

Deutsche Bank declined to comment to Agrimoney.com on the position changes.

A filing said the bank would start "transitioning" the portfolios on October 19, from when the new indices apply, "at a rate of approximately 10% per trading day".

The operation set to finish "on or about" October 31.

In and out

Other positions in line for removal from the Agriculture Fund include a $100m holding in Minneapolis wheat.

Corn and soybean meal positions will be cut by both the Agriculture Fund and a second fund, the PowerShares DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund.

The Agriculture Fund will take on positions in cocoa, coffee, cotton, feeders and live cattle and live hogs.

The moves follow the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's decision in August to withdrawn the funds' waiver on position limits in corn and wheat, in a drive to iron out market anomalies.

The waiver expires on October 31.