Swaps Risk and Exposure

The great bulk of swap activity of date has concentrated on currencies and interest rates, yet these do not exhaust the swap concept’s applicability. As one moves out the yield curve, the primary interest rate swap market becomes dominated by securities transactions and in particular the Eurodollar bond market. The advent of the swap market has meant that the Eurodollar bond market now never closes due to interest rate levels: issuers who would not come to market because of high interest rates now do so to the extent that a swap is available. Indeed, the Eurodollar bond market owes much of its spectacular growth to the parallel growth of its swap market. The firms that now dominate lead management roles Continue reading

Basis Rate Swaps

A fast developing area in the international swap markets is the basis rate swap. The structure of the basis rate swaps is the same as the straight interest rate swaps, with the exception that floating interest calculated on one basis is exchanged for floating interest calculated on a different basis. The forerunner of this type of swap was the US Dollar Prime Rate LIBOR swap. However, an even larger market has developed for the exchange of 1 month US Dollar LIBOR for 6 month US Dollar LIBOR and more recently US Dollar LIBOR for US Dollar commercial paper at much finer rates than those available on the foreign exchange market. The availability of the basis rate swaps market provides an Continue reading

Fixed-Rate Currency Swaps and Currency Coupon Swaps

Fixed-Rate Currency Swaps A fixed rate currency swap consists of the exchange between two counter-parties of fixed rate interest in one currency in return for fixed rate interest in another currency. Following are the main steps to all currency swaps: Initial Exchange for the Principal: The counter-parties exchange the principal amounts on the commencement of the swap at an agreed rate of exchange. Although this rate is usually based on the spot exchange rate, a forward rate set in advance of the swap commencement date can also be used. This initial exchange may be on a notional basis of alternatively a physical exchange. The sole importance of the initial exchange on being either on physical or notional basis, is to Continue reading

Business Analysis – Role of Business Analyst in Modern Organizations

What is Business Analysis? Business Analysis can be defined as the regulation of classifying business needs and shaping results to the business problems. The solutions frequently consist of a system improvement factor, and may also include process development, directorial change or tactical scheduling and procedure development. Someone who brings out this job or task is known as a business analyst (BA). The Business Analyst who labor exclusively on increasing system software can be called Information Technology Business Analysts, Technical Business Analysts, Online Business or System Analysts. Business analysis can also be defined as the position of assignment and techniques which are used to operate as a connection among stakeholders so as to understand the constitution, rules, and operations of a Continue reading

Interest Rate Swaps

The basic structure of an interest rate swap consists of the exchange between two counter-parties of fixed rate interest or floating rate interest in the same currency calculated by reference to a mutually agreed notional principal amount. This principal amount, which would normally equate to the underlying assets or liabilities being “swapped” by the counter-parties, is applicable solely for the calculation of the interest to be exchanged under the swap. At no time it is physically passed between the counter-parties. The counter-parties are able to convert an underlying fixed rate asset/ liability and vice-versa, through this straight forward swap structure. The majority of the interest rate swap transactions are driven by the cost savings to be obtained by each of Continue reading

New Trade Theory of International Trade

New Trade Theory  of International Trade  takes a different approach from the Ricardian and the Heckscher-Ohlin models on why countries engage in international trade. Both Ricardo and Heckscher assumed constant returns to scale where to them if all factors of production are doubled then output will also double. But a firm or industry may have increasing returns to scale or economies of scale in way that when all factors of production are doubled, output more than doubles which will necessitate a bigger market and thus forcing firms to engage in international trade where there is a larger market. The New Trade Theorist noted that the bigger the size of a firm or industry the more the efficiency of its operations Continue reading

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