In a statement issued (April 22) the Bank of China Ltd. (BoC) said it had temporarily stopped taking bets from clients on oil futures via one of its financial products in the wake of the collapse in global crude prices this week that cost some investors millions of Yuan. BoC suspended clients from opening new positions on its Yuanyou Bao product, which is underpinned by domestic and overseas crude oil futures, citing current market risks. It will still allow clients to close positions. The bank made the decision after the price of the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude May futures contract plunged to a record low of negative $37.63 a barrel on April 20, down from $17.85 a barrel earlier in the day. It remains unclear how much BoC lost.