risk that a bank may suffer losses as a result of adverse exchange rate movements during a period Important Issues Regarding Risk • Nature and magnitude of exchange risk.
• The strategy to be adopted for hedging or
managing exchange risk.
• The tools of managing exchange risk.
Risk Management Products Forward Contracts Futures Contracts Options Swaps Who Trades Risk Management Products? Futures traders are traditionally placed in one of two groups:
Hedgers who have an interest in the underlying
commodity and are seeking to hedge out the risk of price changes.
Speculalors who seek to make a profit by
predicting market moves and buying a commodity "on paper" for which they have no practical use. Futures Contract To buy or sell a certain underlying instruments at a certain date in the future, at a specified price.
The future date is called the delivery date or final
settlement date. The pre-set price is called the futures price.
A futures contract gives the holder the obligation to buy
or sell.
Both parties of a "futures contract" must fulfill the
contract on the settlement date. Futures Contract Futures contracts are exchange traded derivatives. The exchange's clearinghouse acts as counterparty on all contracts, sets margin requirements, etc.
Futures are rebalanced, or "marked to market," every
day to the daily spot price of a forward with the same agreed-upon delivery price and underlying asset.
The rebalancing of futures eliminates much of this credit
risk by forcing the holders to update daily to the price of an equivalent forward purchased that day. Standardization Futures contracts ensure their liquidity by being highly standardized, usually by specifying:
The underlying asset or instrument - This could be
anything from a barrel of crude oil to a short term interest rate.
The type of settlement - Either cash settlement or
physical settlement.
Contract Size - The amount and units of the underlying
asset per contract. Standardization • The currency in which the futures contract is quoted.
• The grade of the deliverable - In the case of
bonds, this specifies which bonds can be delivered.
• The delivery months – vary form contract to
contract and are choosen by the cxchange.
• Daily price movements limits.
Margin Margin requirements are waived or reduced in some cases for hedgers who have physical ownership of the covered commodity.
Initial margin is paid by both buyer and seller.
A futures account is marked to market daily. If the
margin drops below the margin maintenance requirement established by the exchange listing the futures, a margin call will be issued to bring the account back up to the required level. Settlement Settlement is the act of consummating the contract, and can be done in one of two ways, as specified per type of futures contract:
• Physical delivery - the amount specified of the
underlying asset of the contract is delivered by the seller of the contract to the exchange, and by the exchange to the buyers of the contract.
• Cash settlement - a cash payment is made based
on the underlying reference rate. Mark-to-market process For Example Initial futures price = $100, Initial margin requirement = $5, Maintenance margin requirement = $3 Panel A: Holder of Long position of 10 contracts Day Beginning Funds Settlement Futures Price Gain/ Loss Ending Balance Deposited Price Change Balance
0 0 50 100.00 50
1 50 0 99.20 -0.80 -8 42
2 42 0 96.00 -3.20 -32 10
3 10 40 101.00 5.00 50 100
4 100 0 103.50 2.50 25 125
5 125 0 103.00 -0.50 -5 120
6 120 0 104.00 1.00 10 130
Panel B: Holder of short position of 10 contracts Day Beginning Funds Settlement Futures Gain/ Loss Ending Balance Deposited Price Price Balance Change
0 0 50 100.00 50
l 50 0 99.20 -0.80 8 58
2 58 0 96.00 -3.20 32 90
3 90 0 101.00 5.00 -50 40
4 40 0 103.50 2.50 -25 15
5 15 35 103.00 -0.50 5 55
6 55 0 104.00 1.00 -10 45
Currency Futures Contracts A currency future, or foreign exchange future, is a future contract to exchange one currency for another at a specified date in the future at a price (exchange rate) that is fixed on the purchase date.
Typically, one of the currencies is the US dollar. The
price of a future is then in terms of US dollars per unit of other currency. Currency Futures Contracts In the United States, the primary currencies on which trading occurs are the euro, Canadian dollar, Swiss franc, Japanese yen, British pound, Mexican peso, and Australian dollar. Each contract has a designated size and a quotation unit.
For example, the euro contract covers €125,000 and is
quoted in dollars per euro. A futures price such as $0.8555 is stated in dollars and converts to a contract price of 125,000($0.8555) = $106,937.50. Regulation In most countries, futures contracts are regulated at the federal government level. State and regional laws may also apply. In the United States, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission(CFTC) regulates the futures market which was established in 1974.
In the United Kingdom, the Securities and Futures
Authority regulates both the securities and futures markets. THANK YOU ALL