Michael Spencer, head of hedge fund FX sales at HSBC, has left the bank after seven years and is believed to be joining a rival firm, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Pacific Investments, the private investment and private equity firm, has launched Argentex LLP, a foreign exchange execution and advisory service aimed at the medium-sized commercial market.

The Bank of England’s (BoE) quantitative easing cycle is likely to have finished, say economists at Barclays and RBS, and a more hawkish BoE stance will provide support for the pound, despite GDP estimates thrusting the UK back into recession.

Currency hedge funds have recently seen increased demand from investors across the globe, and a couple of fund providers are responding by making their offering more accessible to investors, according to Global Money Management, a sister publication to EuromoneyFXNews.

The $12.5 billion Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund (OP&F) has put currency manager FX Concepts on watch “due to performance issues and concerns about personnel”, according to Money Management Letter, a sister-publication of EuromoneyFXNews.

Figures from the Bank for International Settlements confirmed that EU bank deleveraging from emerging markets, a key support for the euro, continued in the fourth quarter of last year.

RBC Dexia has been rated the custodian bank that provides the most transparent foreign exchange rates in the 2012 global custody survey, conducted by EuromoneyFXNews’ sister-publication, Global Investor.

The prospective development shines a light on the growing role for third-party western asset managers to oversee a slice of China’s foreign exchange reserves

Australian retail FX is booming, thanks to a healthy domestic market, the access it provides to fast-growing Asia and a friendly regulatory environment.

More than two thirds of the currency managers who reported results to Parker Global Strategies' independent investable FX index incurred losses in March, with the index losing -1.2% for the month.

Barclays has hired Lisa Francis, former head of UK and northern European FX sales at Royal Bank of Scotland.

Taiwan could be the next potential renminbi offshore centre due to improved political relations between the nation and China, in terms of rising intra-country trade and foreign direct investment, according to Asiamoney.

Australian retail FX is booming, thanks to a healthy domestic market, the access it provides to fast-growing Asia and a friendly regulatory environment.

ITG, the agency broker and financial technology firm, has launched a transaction costs analysis (TCA) tool to allow institutional traders to better monitor their transaction costs when trading foreign exchange.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) has hired a new global head of forwards, sources tell EuromoneyFXNews.

Deutsche Bank has added two currency alpha strategies from asset managers State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) to dbSelect, the bank’s platform for accessing liquid hedge fund strategies.

Multinationals operating in Europe would be foolish not to consider the treasury and tax implications of a country exiting the single currency and conduct some impact assessments to help ensure the best outcomes for the business if such a situation does arise, says the International Tax Review.

Deutsche Bank has hired the former global head of FX prime brokerage (FXPB) at Credit Suisse as its new European head of FXPB, according to sources who spoke to EuromoneyFXNews.

Benign inflation data has weighed on the AUD and is likely to kick-start the Reserve Bank of Australia’s easing cycle when it meets next month. However, the government’s “stealth war” against the currency could be of greater importance.

Europe has ousted Asia-Pacific as the largest contributor to global RMB payments outside Hong Kong and China, according to the latest figures from Swift, the financial messaging system that spans 210 countries.

The Powys County Council Pension Fund has terminated Investec Asset Management’s GBP4.5 million active currency mandate due to poor performance, according to Global Money Management, a sister publication of EuromoneyFXNews.

Barclays predicts a set of policy initiatives by the Chinese authorities to liberalize the movement and trading of the renminbi, heralding full liberalization of the country’s capital account by 2015, according to Asiamoney.

HSBC has announced a tie-up with Oanda, the retail FX platform, to deliver margin FX trading to retail customers in Hong Kong.

Crédit Agricole (CA) has hired a new senior currency strategist in London, according to sources who spoke to EuromoneyFXNews.

U.K.-based currency trading hedge fund manager C-View is gearing up to tap Swiss institutional investors by teaming up with MCAM Group, an alternative assets marketing firm based in Geneva, according to Global Money Management, a sister publication of EuromoneyFXNews.

The global co-head of FX trading at Société Générale (SG) has resigned his position, according to sources who have spoken to EuromoneyFXNews.

London’s finance authorities should adopt similar regulations to Hong Kong when making their city an offshore renminbi hub to minimize arbitration between the currency’s offshore centres, suggesting that a differential in liquidity levels could spark a divergence of pricing, according to Asiamoney.

For those asking why EURUSD is not trading below $1.20, RBC Capital Markets has an answer.

The drive towards the internationalization of the renminbi has continued, with Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) announcing plans to launch offshore renminbi futures.

Hotspot FX, the multi-dealer platform owned by Knight Capital, reported a slight fall in volumes in March, but still posted a record market share among publicly reported spot FX volumes.