Chapter 8-International Finance

If a financial manager with an interest liability on a future date were to sell Futures and interest rates end up going up, the position outcome would be: A) Futures price falls; short earns a profit. B) Futures price rises; short earns a loss. C) Future price falls; long earns a loss. D) Futures price rises; long earns a profit.

A) Futures price falls; short earns a profit.

An agreement to swap the currencies of a debt service obligation would be termed a/an: A) currency swap. B) forward swap. C) interest rate swap. D) none of the above

A) currency swap.

The interest rate swap strategy of a firm with fixed rate debt and that expects rates to go up is to: A) do nothing. B) pay floating and receive fixed. C) receive floating and pay fixed. D) none of the above

A) do nothing.

An interbank-traded contract to buy or sell interest rate payments on a notional principal is called a/an: A) forward rate agreement. B) interest rate future. C) interest rate swap. D) none of the above

A) forward rate agreement.

A firm with variable-rate debt that expects interest rates to rise may engage in a swap agreement to: A) pay fixed-rate interest and receive floating rate interest. B) pay floating rate and receive fixed rate. C) pay fixed rate and receive fixed rate. D) pay floating rate and receive floating rate

A) pay fixed-rate interest and receive floating rate interest.

The financial manager of a firm has a variable rate loan outstanding. If she wishes to protect the firm against an unfavorable increase in interest rates she could: A) sell an interest rate futures contract of a similar maturity to the loan. B) buy an interest rate futures contract of a similar maturity to the loan. C) swap the adjustable rate loan for another of a different maturity. D) none of the above

A) sell an interest rate futures contract of a similar maturity to the loan.

If a financial manager with an interest liability on a future date were to sell Futures and interest rates end up going down, the position outcome would be: A) Futures price falls; short earns a profit. B) Futures price rises; short earns a loss. C) Future price falls; long earns a loss. D) Futures price rises; long earns a profit.

B) Futures price rises; short earns a loss.

The single largest interest rate risk of a firm is: A) interest sensitive securities. B) debt service. C) dividend payments. D) accounts payable.

B) debt service.

A/an ________ is a contract to lock in today interest rates over a given period of time. A) forward rate agreement B) interest rate future C) interest rate swap D) none of the above

B) interest rate future

A firm with fixed-rate debt that expects interest rates to fall may engage in a swap agreement to: A) pay fixed-rate interest and receive floating rate interest. B) pay floating rate and receive fixed rate. C) pay fixed rate and receive fixed rate. D) pay floating rate and receive floating rate

B) pay floating rate and receive fixed rate

If a financial manager earning interest on a future date were to buy Futures and interest rates end up going up, the position outcome would be: A) Futures price falls; short earns a profit. B) Futures price rises; short earns a loss. C) Future price falls; long earns a loss. D) Futures price rises; long earns a profit

C) Future price falls; long earns a loss.

The potential exposure that any individual firm bears that the second party to any financial contract will be unable to fulfill its obligations under the contract is called: A) interest rate risk. B) credit risk. C) counterparty risk. D) clearinghouse risk.

C) counterparty risk.

An agreement to swap a fixed interest payment for a floating interest payment would be considered a/an: A) currency swap. B) forward swap. C) interest rate swap. D) none of the above

C) interest rate swap

An agreement to exchange interest payments based on a fixed payment for those based on a variable rate (or vice versa) is known as a/an: A) forward rate agreement. B) interest rate future. C) interest rate swap. D) none of the above

C) interest rate swap.

For a corporate borrower, it is especially important to distinguish between credit risk and repricing risk. Explain both types of risks

Credit risk, sometimes termed roll-over risk, is the possibility that a borrower's creditworthiness at the time of renewing a credit — its credit rating — is reclassified by the lender. This can result in changing fees, changing interest rates, altered credit line commitments, or even denial. Repricing risk is the risk of changes in interest rates charged (earned) at the time a financial contract's rate is reset. A borrower that is renewing a credit will face current market conditions on the base rate used for financing, a true floating-rate.

Which of the following would be considered an example of a currency swap? A) exchanging a dollar interest obligation for a British pound obligation B) exchanging a eurodollar interest obligation for a dollar obligation C) exchanging a eurodollar interest obligation for a British pound obligation D) All of the above are examples of a currency swap.

D) All of the above are examples of a currency swap

To replace cash flows scheduled in an undesired currency with cash flows in a desired currency. B) Firms may raise capital in one currency but desire to repay it in another currency. C) Firms desire to swap fixed and variable payment or receipt of funds. D) All of the above are likely reasons for a firm to enter the swap market.

D) All of the above are likely reasons for a firm to enter the swap market.

________ is the possibility that the borrower's creditworthiness is reclassified by the lender at the time of renewing credit. ________ is the risk of changes in interest rates charged at the time a financial contract rate is set. A) Credit risk; Interest rate risk B) Repricing risk; Credit risk C) Interest rate risk; Credit risk D) Credit risk; Repricing risk

D) Credit risk; Repricing risk

If a financial manager earning interest on a future date were to buy Futures and interest rates end up going down, the position outcome would be: A) Futures price falls; short earns a profit. B) Futures price rises; short earns a loss. C) Future price falls; long earns a loss. D) Futures price rises; long earns a profit.

D) Futures price rises; long earns a profit.

Individual borrowers - whether they be governments or companies - possess their own individual credit rating, the market's assessment of their ability to repay debt in a timely manner. These credit assessments influence all the following EXCEPT: A) cost of capital. B) access to capital. C) credit risk premium. D) risk-free rate.

D) risk-free rate

A basis point is one-tenth of one percent.

FALSE

A firm entering into a currency or interest rate swap agreement holds no responsibility for the timely servicing of its own debt obligations since that responsibility now is born by the second party to the contract.

FALSE

A swap agreement may involve currencies or interest rates, but never both.

FALSE

Counterparty risk is greater for exchange-traded derivatives than for over-the-counter derivatives.

FALSE

Interest rate calculations differ by the number of days used in the period's calculation and in the definition of how many days there are in a year (for financial purposes). One of the practices is to use 260 business days in a year.

FALSE

Interest rate futures are relatively unpopular among financial managers because of their relative illiquidity and their difficulty of use

FALSE

Sovereign credit risk is the global financial market's assessment of the ability of a sovereign borrower to repay USD denominated debt.

FALSE

The London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) is published under the auspices of the British Bankers Association. A panel of 16 major multinational banks self-report their actual borrowing

FALSE

Unlike the situation with exchange rate risk, there is no uncertainty on the part of management for shareholder preferences regarding interest rate risk. Shareholders prefer that managers hedge interest rate risk rather than having shareholders diversify away such risk through portfolio diversification

FALSE

Your firm is faced with paying a variable rate debt obligation with the expectation that interest rates are likely to go up. Identify two strategies using interest rate futures and interest rate swaps that could reduce the risk to the firm.

Sell a futures position. If rates change the payoff from the futures position offsets the gain or loss on the variable rate debt obligation. Swap a variable rate debt obligation for a fixed futures payable contract

Your firm is faced with paying a variable rate debt obligation with the expectation that interest rates are likely to go up. Identify two strategies using interest rate futures and interest rate swaps that could reduce the risk to the firm.

Sell a futures position. If rates change the payoff from the futures position offsets the gain or loss on the variable rate debt obligation. Swap a variable rate debt obligation for a fixed futures payable contract.

Historically, interest rate movements have shown less variability and greater stability than exchange rate movements.

TRUE

One of the reasons companies use interest rate swaps is because they are interested in opportunities to lower the cost of their debt.

TRUE

One of the reasons companies use interest rate swaps is because they pursue a target debt structure that combines maturity, currency of composition, and fixed/floating pricing.

TRUE

Some of the world's largest and most financially sound firms may borrow at variable rates less than LIBOR.

TRUE

Swap rates are derived from the yield curves in each major currency

TRUE

The basis point spreads between credit ratings dramatically rise for borrowers of credit qualities less than BBB

TRUE

The real exposure of an interest or currency swap is not the total notional principal, but the mark-to-market values of differentials in interest or currency interest payments since the inception of the swap agreement.

TRUE

How does counterparty risk influence a firm's decision to trade exchange-traded derivatives rather than over-the-counter derivatives?

With exchange-traded derivatives, the exchange is the clearinghouse. Thus, firms do not need to worry about the other party making good on its obligations and it is easier to trade the derivative products