Foreign Currency Swap or Foreign Exchange Swap

Each entity has a different access and different needs in the international financial markets. Companies receive more favorable credit ratings in their country of domicile than in the country in which they need to raise capital. Investors are likely to demand a lower return from a domestic company, which they are more familiar with than from a foreign company. In some cases a company may be unable to raise capital in a certain currency. Currency swaps are also used to lower the risk of currency exposure or to change returns on investment into another, more favorable currency. Therefore, currency swaps are used to exchange assets or capital in one currency for another for the purpose of financial management.… Read the rest

Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal of Securities (STRIPS)

STRIPS is the acronym for Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal of Securities.  STRIPS let investors hold and trade the individual interest and principal components  (also known as stripping)  of eligible Treasury notes and bonds as separate securities.

The origin of Strip Bonds can be traced to the 1960s, when Investment Dealers in the United States began (physically) clipping coupons from bearer government bonds and selling the individual pieces as separate securities. These clipped bonds gained immense popularity and their sales gained momentum in the early and mid 1980s as the interest rates surged to high levels. This was so because it allowed investors to lock in the very high yields that were available at that time, without worrying about the risk of not being able to re-invest future interest payments at the same high rates.… Read the rest

Major Participants in Securitization Process

Securitization is the process whereby relatively illiquid financial assets such as mortgages are packaged together and sold off to individual investors. Securitization turns relatively illiquid instruments into quite liquid investments called asset-backed securities. A market maker agrees to create a secondary market by buying and selling the securities. Securitization originated in the mortgage market in the early 1980s, when mortgage loans began to be packaged together and sold off as securities in the secondary market often with government insurance guaranteeing that the principal and interest would be repaid. Securitization became popular because it provides a way of protecting against interest rate risk in an environment of increased interest rate volatility.… Read the rest

Benefits of Securitization

Securitization, also known as asset-backed securitization or structured financing, has been defined as a financing instrument whereby a company transfers rights in current or future receivables or other financial assets to an entity that serves as a “special purpose vehicle” (SPV), which in turn issues securities to capital market investors and uses the proceeds from the issue to pay for the financial assets. The source of the receivables could be any right of payment or asset that generates an income with a stable cash flow. The existing or future receivables could be the income generated, among others things by residential or commercial loans, credit card receivables, automobile loans, student loans, royalties on intellectual property, tax receivables or any other income source that is regular and predictable.… Read the rest

Steps Involved in the Process of Securitization

Securitization, a process by which illiquid financial assets are transformed into tradable commodities, is one of the most significant innovations of the financial world. Having originated in 1970 in mortgage markets in the USA, securitization has already converted over $90 trillion worth of non-tradable assets into marketable securities. As a powerful tool of liquidity and risk management, securitization has had a tremendous impact on the welfare of the world economy. In mortgage markets in many countries it provides a cheaper source of financing, and thus promotes the demand for housing. In the banking sector, securitization is widely used for allocating capital more efficiently, transforming risk into a tradable security, and reducing the overall cost of capital.… Read the rest

The Role of Derivatives in the Financial Crisis

Derivative contracts are probabilistic bets on future events, they are securities with a price that are dependent upon or derived from one or more underlying assets. Many people argue that derivatives reduce systemic problems, in that participants who cannot bear certain risks are able to transfer them to stronger hands. These people believe that derivatives act to stabilize the economy, facilitate trade, and eliminate bumps for individual participants. We have now reached the stage where those who work in finance, and many who work outside finance, need to understand how derivatives work, how they are used, and how they are priced.… Read the rest