Keep in mind that if you open a foreign bank account in a local currency, you may also be entering into a “currency play”, meaning if you unwind the transaction back to your home currency a principal gain or loss in principal could occur.
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One way to avoid the currency conversion transaction risk is to maintain an offshore bank account in your home currency – US$ for US citizens – while still diversifying assets outside of your domestic banking system. The US dollar is a foreign currency to a local foreign bank, and by holding a deposit in your home currency you avoid the risk and cost of exchanging currencies, if that’s an objective.
http://goo.gl/a5rwR

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Note added at 36 mins (2012-01-10 13:31:28 GMT)
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I want to introduce you to an opportunity that I’m eyeing for 2012.
It’s a currency play that looks to pay a nice yield of over 4%. That’s about 17 times what a two-year Treasury bond is paying right now.
Even better, this currency play could rise as much as 100% over the next three years.
Now it’s not quite time to get in on this currency play yet, but if you time it right this could be the gem of your portfolio by the end of the 1st or 2nd quarter of 2012.
It’s not easy finding a currency play like this that pays a decent yield and still offers room for capital appreciation. You have to time it just right – that’s why most investors miss out on plays like this.
So consider this your advanced warning to put this currency play on your investment watch list for 2012.
http://goo.gl/QKXfl