The senior FX trader at one of the top-15 banks in this year’s survey smiles grimly at his phone. He has been telling how the bank recently devoted several man-years to compiling and delivering vast files of historical data on FX trades, running to billions of individual items, to one of the US regulatory agencies. It had been sniffing around the market for evidence of banks failing to provide best execution to customers. There is no single source for historical price and trade data in the over-the-counter FX market and so the regulator had approached several large banks to supply it. The banks’ pleas that the regulator was looking in the wrong place for the wrong kind of evidence in a market that had functioned well throughout the financial crisis were dismissed. The regulator wanted the data and the banks would be ill advised to cross it.

Deutsche Bank holds on to top spot from resurgent Citi

Fewer and fewer banks can still claim to compete as full-service foreign exchange providers on a global basis.

After a deluge of negative headlines from the eurozone this year, why are policymakers in emerging Europe still queuing up to pledge their allegiance to the single currency?

The euro suffered on Thursday as Mario Draghi, European Central Bank (ECB) president, said he was open to negative deposit rates in the eurozone, a move that could see funds pouring out of the region.

Macro hedge funds back with a vengeance; return to trading on fundamentals.

Reserve data from the Swiss National Bank (SNB) have revealed a build-up in the central bank’s yen holdings, prompting speculation it might have intervened to weaken the franc against the Japanese currency.

Scandinavia has been a popular refuge among currency investors, but there are signs the strength witnessed in the SEK and NOK is past its prime.

Speculation that the Swiss National Bank (SNB) is set to raise the floor in EURCHF has been cited as the catalyst for the sharp drop in the franc, but the trigger for the slide in the Swiss currency lies in the eurozone.

The chances of a rate cut from the European Central Bank (ECB) have increased markedly after weak German economic data, but simply selling the euro might not be the best way for currency investors to benefit from the move.

Finance minister Rimantas Sadzius reveals Lithuania’s 2015 euro adoption plan, touts the benefits of convergence and strikes a bullish – and contrarian – tone on eurozone policymaking.

Sterling has found some support since GBPUSD broke down through $1.50 at the start of March, but could come under renewed pressure in the coming weeks.

As USDJPY makes a renewed attempt to break higher through the ¥100 barrier, one Japanese institution has the power to dramatically weaken the yen.

The descent in the price of oil is likely to weigh on the euro, raising the prospect that European Central Bank (ECB) policymakers will become uneasy about their loose monetary policy stance.

China has announced further plans to liberalize the renminbi, a move that could relieve the pressure of excessive FX reserve growth that has been triggered by the easing of the eurozone financial crisis.

Yen weakness has subsided after a sharp fall immediately following the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) aggressive move to attempt to reflate its economy, but that is likely to be only a temporary pause.

The collapse in the price of gold has been accompanied by the realization that none of the normal rules for valuing gold is working, which could spell more weakness ahead for the yellow metal.

The fall in the yen since the Bank of Japan (BoJ) last week surprised the market with plans to double its monetary base has been stunning, but domestic investors have yet to materially participate in the move.

Core European government bonds rallied on Friday, thanks to the prospect of real money flows from Japan, following the aggressive action by the Bank of Japan on Thursday.

The fall in the price of gold after the unveiling of the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) massive monetary expansion reveals the true driving force behind the price of bullion.