Investors on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange extended their record bets against the EUR, as fears of a Greek exit from the single currency continued to cause turmoil on the world’s financial markets.

A new study has uncovered why FX carry trade strategies persistently deliver returns, helping solve a mystery that has long vexed academics.

The 2011 financial-year results of Japan’s nine leading life insurance companies show they invested conservatively in foreign bonds, favouring USD and AUD paper over EUR-denominated assets.

China’s strict controls on CNH liquidity will hamstring London’s offshore renminbi capabilities despite bankers’ best intentions, argues Asiamoney, a sister publication to EuromoneyFXNews.

German corporates – who have this year expressed relatively neutral assessments of the euro’s prospects – are now conveying unprecedented euro bearishness, according to Commerzbank’s monthly FX opinion poll.

Deutsche Bank’s Mayer has a plan for Greece to take a ‘temporary breather’

Citi has named Sanjay Madgavkar as the bank’s new global head of FX prime brokerage, replacing Andy Coyne, who last week left to take on the top job at Icap’s Traiana.

Driven by worsening sentiment regarding the Eurozone, Asian currencies are under pressure. The market has sharply increased its expectation that Greece will exit the Eurozone, and USD-Asia and regional volatility has surged.

Please forgive the obsession with the Swiss National Bank (SNB) here at EuromoneyFXNews, but the Greek exit drama is putting the central bank’s efforts to maintain the SFr1.20 floor in EURCHF front and centre.

The latest CFTC data showed EUR short positioning was at record levels, but proprietary positioning trackers of leading FX banks tell a different story.

A leading Barclays emerging market economist believes the Chinese renminbi is likely to appreciate due to China’s strong economic growth, and could reach “basic convertibility” by 2015, according to Asiamoney, a sister publication of EuromoneyFXNews.

The latest CFTC data showed EUR short positioning was at record levels, but proprietary positioning trackers of leading FX banks tell a different story.

A consortium of leading FX banks has launched a new trading venue aimed at attracting customer business away from brokerage-charging platforms, such as FXall, FX Connect and 360T.

Lloyds has appointed former Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) salesperson Karen Solomon to its macro advisory group and is believed to have hired one other in institutional FX sales from Société Générale.

Oanda, one of the world’s leading retail FX platforms, has appointed a former Deutsche Bank e-commerce head as its new chief executive officer.

The Brazilian finance ministry on Wednesday reduced the IOF tax on derivatives transactions for exporters to zero, in an attempt to increase the supply of US dollars and help stem the rapid surge in USDBRL.

Wiltshire County Council Pension Fund has appointed Berenberg Bank to hedge £500 million of non-sterling equity exposure using its systematic dynamic currency hedging framework.

EURUSD dropped to its lowest level for 22 months as the chasm between the north and south of Europe widened.

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) has hired Dipen Navsaria as an FX options trader in London, according to Derivatives Intelligence, a sister publication of EuromoneyFXNews.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has relaxed the rules on net open position (NOP) limits for Hong Kong banks, a move that is expected to improve liquidity levels in the offshore renminbi market.

The prospect of a Greek exit from the euro has prompted hedge funds to make a fresh assault on the Swiss National Bank’s resolve in maintaining its SFr1.20 floor in EURCHF.

(UPDATE: clarifies live-streaming of CNH crosses for all CNH market makers) HSBC has launched six new currency trading pairs tied to the CNH – the offshore renminbi (RMB) – providing 24-hour interbank streaming of the cross rates on its proprietary API.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation is expanding into Singapore by establishing its first Asia-focused data centre, according to Derivatives Intelligence, a sister publication of EuromoneyFXNews.

Speculators on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange took their bets against the euro to record levels, as fears mounted over Greece’s future in the eurozone.

Icap has hired Andy Coyne as chief executive officer of Traiana – the firm’s post trade-processing service – and has finalized the new management structure of EBS, after Gil Mandelzis’ appointment as CEO earlier this year.

China’s desire for iron ore has peaked and as mines spring up across the globe, the Australian dollar is likely to see a sharp decline in value, Andy Xie, former chief economist of Morgan Stanley, tells Asiamoney, a sister publication to EuromoneyFXNews.

UBS has hired Nomura’s former head of hedge FX sales, Louis Curran, and three others into its global FX sales force, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The lacklustre macroeconomic outlook and elevated oil-supply levels point to a continued fall in crude prices and a further blow to the G10’s most oil-sensitive currency, the Canadian dollar.

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has hired Nick Waite as executive director and head of FX trading in London, the bank has confirmed.

ANZ has hired Anshul Sidher, head of structured derivatives and offshore rates at Barclays in Singapore, and Bryn Meredith-Foster, a director and senior yen options trader also from Barclays in Singapore, reports Derivatives Intelligence, a sister publication of EuromoneyFXNews.