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Chapter 14. Interest Rate and Currency Swaps. Interest Rate and Currency Swaps. Interest rate risk management Interest rate swaps Use of interest rate swaps and cross-currency swaps to manage both foreign exchange and interest rate risk simultaneously. Interest Rate Risk.
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Chapter 14 Interest Rate and Currency Swaps
Interest Rate and Currency Swaps • Interest rate risk management • Interest rate swaps • Use of interest rate swaps and cross-currency swaps to manage both foreign exchange and interest rate risk simultaneously
Interest Rate Risk • All firms are sensitive to interest rate movements • The largest interest rate risk of a non-financial firm is debt service (liability management) • For an MNE, differing currencies have differing interest rates thus making this risk a larger concern • The second most prevalent source of interest rate risk is its holding of interest sensitive securities (asset management) • Whether it is on the left or right hand side of the balance sheet, the reference rate of interest calculation is important • The reference rate is the rate of interest used in a standardized quotation, loan agreement, or financial derivative valuation • Most common reference rate is LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate)
Management of Interest Rate Risk • The management dilemma is the balance between risk and return • Since most treasuries do not act as profit centers, their management practices are typically conservative • Before treasury can take any hedging strategy, it must first form an expectation or a directional and/or volatility view • Once management has formed its expectations about future interest rate levels and movements, it must then choose the appropriate implementation of a strategy
Credit and Repricing Risk • Credit Risk or roll-over risk is the possibility that a borrower’s creditworthiness at the time of renewing a credit, is reclassified by the lender • This can result in higher borrowing rates, fees, or even denial • Repricing risk is the risk of changes in interest rates charged (earned) at the time a financial contract’s rate is being reset
Floating-Rate Loans • If a firm wants to manage the interest rate risk associated with a loan, it would have a number of alternatives • Refinancing – The firm could go back to the lender and refinance the entire agreement • Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs) – The firm could lock in the future interest rate payment in much the same way that exchange rates are locked in with forward contracts • Interest Rate Futures • Interest Rate Swaps – The firm could swap the floating rate note for a fixed rate note with a swap dealer
Forward Rate Agreements (FRAs) • A forward rate agreement is an interbank-traded contract to buy or sell interest rate payments on a notional principal • Example: If a firm wishes to lock in a debt payment which is currently floating (LIBOR + 0.50%) it can buy an FRA which locks in a total interest payment at 5.50% • If LIBOR rises above 5.00%, then the firm would receive a cash payment from the FRA seller reducing their LIBOR payment to 5.0% • If LIBOR falls below 5.00% then the firm would pay the FRA seller a cash amount increasing their LIBOR payment to 5.00%
Interest Rate Futures • Interest Rate futures (Treasury bonds, notes, and bills futures): • high liquidity of interest rate futures markets • simplicity in use • standardized interest rate exposures • Traded on an exchange; two most common are the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) • The yield is calculated from the settlement price (Treasury Bills futures only, contract size is $1mil for 90-day Treasury Bills) • Example: March 2XX9 contract with settlement price of 97.36 gives an annual yield of 2.64% (100 – 97.36)
Interest Rate Futures • If a firm wants to hedge a floating rate payment due in April 2XX9 it would sell a futures contract, or short the contract • If interest rates rise, the futures price will fall and the firm can offset its interest payment with the proceeds from the sale of the futures contracts • If interest rates fall, the futures price will rise and the savings from the interest payment due will offset the losses from the sale of the futures contracts
Interest Rate Swaps • Swaps are contractual agreements to exchange or swap a series of cash flows • If the agreement is for one party to swap its fixed interest payment for a floating rate payment, its is termed an interest rate swap • If the agreement is to swap currencies of debt service it is termed a currency swap • A single swap may combine elements of both interest rate and currency swap • The swap itself is not a source of capital but an alteration of the cash flows associated with payment
Interest Rate Swaps • If firm thought that rates would rise it would enter into a swap agreement to pay fixed and receive floating in order to protect itself from rising debt-service payments • If firm thought that rates would fall it would enter into a swap agreement to pay floating and receive fixed in order to take advantage of lower debt-service payments • The cash flows of an interest rate swap are interest rates applied to a set amount of capital, no principal is swapped only the coupon payments
Unwinding Swaps • As with the original loan agreement, a swap can be entered or unwound if viewpoints change or other developments occur • Assume that the three-year contract (creating the franc exposure for Chow Chemical) with the Swiss customer terminates after one year, the firm no longer needs the currency swap • Unwinding a currency swap requires the discounting of the remaining cash flows under the swap agreement at current interest rates then converting the target currency back to the home currency
Unwinding Swaps • If Chow has one payment of Sfr50,327,500 (LIBOR + 0.125% where LIBOR is 5%) and another one of Sfr1,032,327,500 (interest plus principal in year three) remaining and the 2 year fixed rate for francs is now 6.50%, the PV of Chow’s commitment in francs is
Unwinding Swaps • At the same time, the PV of the remaining cash flows on the dollar-side of the swap is determined using the current 2 year fixed dollar rate which is now 6.20%
Unwinding Swaps • Chow’s currency swap, if unwound now, would yield a PV of net inflows of $204,753,494 and a PV of net outflows of Sfr957,416,991. If the current spot rate is Sfr4.8010/$ the net settlement of the swap is • Chow receives a cash payment of $5,333,167 from the swap dealer to terminate the swap
Counterparty Risk • Counterparty Risk is the potential exposure any individual firm bears that the second party to any financial contract will be unable to fulfill its obligations • A firm entering into a swap agreement retains the ultimate responsibility for its debt-service • In the event that a swap counterpart defaults, the payments would cease and the losses associated with the failed swap would be mitigated • The real exposure in a swap is not the total notional principal but the mark-to-market value of the differentials