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| Disclaimer |
| IBS 104 International Finance Paradise Valley Community College Phoenix, Arizona |
| Course Syllabus |
| Dates: | August - Sept. |
| Time: | Wednesday Evenings, 6:30 pm - 10:00 pm |
| Place: | World Trade Center Board Room, 201 N. Central Ave., 27th Floor, Phoenix |
| Instructor: | |
| Course Description: | Economic theories of international trade and its impacts on the balance of payments is explored. The development of foreign exchange and foreign exchange markets is studied. Methods of export financing, including both short- and medium-term credit and a review of application to and administration of government loan programs are covered. Important factors in country risk analysis are discussed. Includes description of the international banking community, international payment instruments and international banking operations. |
| Course Objectives/Competencies | |
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| Grading: | There will be a mid-term quiz on September 6 and a final exam on September 20 (end of class period) each of which will count for 40% of the final grade. The remaining 20% of the grade will be based on attendance and class participation. |
| Text: | International Financial Management by Jeff Madura, West Publishing Co. |
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International Finance
Course Outline |
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Instructor Barbara Hames, Adjunct Faculty PVCC 922-0547
Text: International Financial Management by Jeff Madura, West Publishing Co. |
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Suggestions for Guest Speakers
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| Don Gee, VP and Regional manager, First Interstate, 528-6569 Foreign exchange, country risk, EXIMBANK programs (sections II and IV) Gil Rothstein, VP Norwest Bank International 248-2439 Letters of credit, collections, international banking (section III) Deborah Conrad, VP Bank One 221-1345 Worked for EXIMBANK for 17 years, also good overall speaker on foreign exchange risk. Susan Morrison, Bank of America Arizona 594-6181 Letters of Credit and Collections (section III) Ann Dee Johnson, Executive Vice President, World Trade Center 495-6479 Good overall description of World Trade Center and availability to international firms. Good speaker for first class if held at the World Trade Center. |
Session One International Finance Class
| Time | Content | References |
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Class Preparation: |
Name plates Flipchart Markers |
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| Introductions 20 minutes |
Introductions. Housekeeping: Attendance List Restrooms Aparking Phones, pagers turn off beepers |
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| Have each person in class introduce themselves and what they want to get out of class, background, etc. | On flipchart, write down each persons objectives. | |
| Describe Class: Course syllabus |
Handout course syllabus Overhead of class outline |
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| What is international finance? Ask class is the dollar currently strong or weak? If the dollar is strong or weak, what does that mean to the price of imported goods? What is the trade deficit? Is it important? Why is a currency devaluation harmful to a countrys economy? (Recent example Mexico) |
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| Why Do We Trade? | A brief discussion of international economics. Markets become more efficient and more competitive. Example: InfoPak, a company in Phoenix has a hand-held, high tech device that holds listings of all homes for sale in a given city. Its very expensive to manufacture and theres not enough demand in the US to recoup costs. Solution: they now sell them in Australia and Canada to build enough volume to make it worthwhile to manufacture them. |
Handouts Overheads of this Section Overhead 1.1 |
| Comparative Advantage | Example: One worker in the United States can manufacture 3 cars in one year or 15 cellular phones. One worker in Mexico can manufacture 2 cars in one year or 20 cellular phones. United states has comparative advantage in cars, so exports them to Mexico and imports cellular phones. |
Overhead 1.2 (If time is an issue, can skip discussions on comparative advantage and absolute advantage and move to 1.5) |
| Absolute Advantage | Example: One worker in the United States can manufacture 3 airplanes in one year or 5 tons of cotton. One worker in Russia can manufacture 1 airplane in one year or 4 tons of cotton. By giving up 1 airplane, Russia gains four times more cotton. United States has absolute advantage in both, but the most efficient allocation of resources is to have US specialize in airplanes and Russia to specialize in cotton. |
Overhead 1.3 |
| Adverse Effects of International Trade | When trade is opened, some groups are negatively impacted, for example, US cotton producers in the previous examples. | Overhead 1.4 |
| Arguments for Protection | Possible responses: 1. US $ spent abroad come back as purchases from our industries. 2. US higher productivity should make up for cheap labor abroad. 3. Tariffs overall will raise prices for everyone. 4. If we restrict imports from another country, they will likely restrict some kind of import of ours. 5. A countrys economy will be diversified, but once again at a higher cost (example: oil). |
Overhead 1.5 Ask for responses from class. |
| Wouldnt it be nice if there were only one worldwide currency? That way we wouldnt have that problem. Countries would like to have control over their own currency. Countries (theoretically) will never go broke because they can always print money. |
Why would one worldwide currency by a problem? Ask class. |
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| Free Trade Agreements | Many countries have already seen the benefits to free trade, and many groups of countries have already formed free trade associations. Most well known: NAFTA EC and GATT agreements. | Handouts Overhead of this Section Overhead 2.1 |
| Remember when I asked earlier if it wouldnt be easier if there were only one currency? Well the Euroean Economy Community is trying to do just that. The ECU is increasingly becoming the currency of denomination for financial instruments such as bonds and deposits. These can change. There are three perceived stages to integrating all money and exchange in Europe through the EMU. Needless to say, some countries are a little reluctant to give up their sovereignty over their currency. |
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| International Flow of Funds | Everyday, trades are being made all over the world. Every country is trading with all the others. How this is measured is called the balance of payments. Explain: Balance of Payments Current Account Trade Surplus Trade Deficit Capital Account Unilateral Transfers |
Overhead 2.2 |
| Example of US Balance of Payments. Discussion: The US has had large merchandise trade deficits in the past few years, but makes part of it up in services and investments. Counties with widely traded currencies like the US cant control its own currencies like other countries. |
Overhead US International Transactions |
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| Factors Affecting the Current Account | Some are listed here, but everything is interrelated. Inflation National Income Government Restrictions Exchange Rates |
Overhead 2.3 Overhead and Handout Foreign Exchange Rates 1970 1993 |
| Agencies that Promote International Flows | There are numerous national and international agencies that assist countries with international balance of payments problems, short term and long term loans. Some are listed on overhead. | Overhead 2.4 |
| Group Project 10-15 minutes (time permitting |
Break class into three groups. Ask them to read the case: International Financial Flows in pages 51 and 52 of the Madura text. Each group should discuss the answers. | Call on each group and ask them one of the questions. Class discussion. |
| Break 10 minutes |
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| Exchange Rate Determination | Multinational Corporations (MNCs) must continually monitor foreign exchange rates because their cash flows are highly dependent on them. | Handouts Overheads of this Section Overhead 3.1 |
| In the business world it is very important to understand what impacts foreign exchange rates. The relative value of a currency can have a big impact on a business. Isnt it interesting that this looks a lot like the overhead showing the factors that affect the current account. Well, theyre very closely related. |
Overhead 3.2 | |
| In order to determine current interest rates, all you have to do is pick up the Wall Street Journal. Every day in the Journal is a summary of trading. | Handout August 24 WSJ Article | |
| Key currency rates are also listed in both direct and indirect quotations. Explain the tables, the articles and the quotations. |
Overhead Key Currency Rates & Quotes Handout Key Currency Rates |
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| You all as business people can keep a relatively good eye on the direction of exchange rates by watching monthly balance of trade statistics Employment levels Interest rate trends Personal spending Etc. |
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WHY DO WE TRADE?
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| Advantages of International Trade |
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| Economics of Scale |
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| International Finance Overhead 1.1 | |
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COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE
Comparative Advantage |
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| Advantages of International Trade |
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Def: If two nations have different opportunity costs (i.e., production cost) of producing a good or service, then the nation with the lower opportunity cost has a comparative advantage in that good or service. |
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United States Mexico |
3 2 |
15 20 |
Change By |
Changes By |
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United States Mexico Net World Output Changes by |
+3 -2 +1 |
-15 +20 +5 |
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International Finance Overhead 1.2
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ABSOLUTE ADVANTAGE
Absolute Advantage Def: |
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A country has an absolute advantage in the production of a good or service if it can produce that good or service with fewer resources than other countries. |
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United States Russia |
3 1 |
5 4 |
Change By |
Changes By |
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United States Russia Net World Output Changes by |
+3 -1 +2 |
-5 +4 -1 |
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International Finance Overhead 1.3
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ADVERSE EFFECTS OF INTL TRADE
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| Specific groups/industries will be affected by international trade. Consumers, if country becomes dependent upon imports and exchange rate changes. |
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Results: |
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International Finance Overhead 1.4 |
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ECONOMIC ARGUMENTS FOR PROTECTION
1. Buy American it keeps our money at home. 2. We can't compete with cheap labor. 3. Tariffs should be tailored to equalize costs at home and abroad. 4. If we restrict imports of cars from Japan, American autoworkers will stay employed. 5. Restricting trade will diversify a nation's economy. 6. We need to protect our infant industries. 7. We need to protect strategic industries, such as defense. |
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International Finance Overhead 1.5 |
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NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement
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| Entered into in 1993 between United States, Canada and Mexico. Larger free trade area than European Community. Canada and Mexico account for 29% of US exports in 1993. Consideration for free trade agreements with other South American countries. |
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| EC European Community |
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| EEC/EC |
Formed in 1957 between France Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg for the purpose of creating a large free trade area. |
| EMS | European Monetary System |
| ECU | European Currency Unit An artificial unit consisting of a "basket" of currencies of member countries. |
| ERM | Exchange Rate Mechanism Links members currency to one another. |
| GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trades |
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International Finance Overhead 2.1 |
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INTERNATIONAL FLOW OF FUNDS
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| Balance of Payments | |
| A measurement of all transactions between domestic and foreign residents over a specified period of time. |
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| Current Account | |
| A broad measure of a country's international trade in goods and services. Its primary component is the balance of trade I which is simply the difference between merchandise exports and imports. Deficit: Imported Goods/Services > Exported Goods/Services Surplus: Exported Goods/Services > Imported Goods/Services |
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| Unilateral transfers Government and private gifts and grants. Capital Account Reflects changes in country ownership of long term and short term assets. It is a category in the balance of payments of a country that measures the flows of financial and real investments across countries' borders. |
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International Finance Overhead 2.2 |
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FACTORS AFFECTING THE CURRENT ACCOUNT
Inflation |
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| Goods domestically become more expensive, so more imports are purchased. |
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| National Income | |
| Countries with growing, healthy economies are more likely to purchase goods from overseas. |
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| Government Restrictions |
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| Tariffs and quotas. |
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| Exchange Rates | |
| A strong currency (a currency rising in value against other currencies) causes exports to become more expensive and thus reduces exports and encourages imports. A weak currency (a currency decreasing in value against other currencies) causes exports to become less expensive and imports to become more expensive. Example: In 1985 a Honda Accord cost $10,500 (2,499,000 yen) 238 yen/$1 In 1995 Honda Accord costs $18,000 (1,728,000 yen) 96 yen/$1 If it still were at 2,499,000 yen, that 1995 Honda would cost $26,032! |
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| So ... If the dollar is weak, why do we have a trade deficit? |
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| 1. | Importers adjust their price down to keep market share. |
| 2. | Other currencies with key trading partners (Canada, Mexico) have weakened. |
| 3. | Trade deficit doesn't change overnight. |
International Finance Overhead 2.3 |
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AGENCIES THAT PROMOTE INTERNATIONAL FLOWS
International Monetary Fund |
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| World Bank |
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| International Financial Corporation |
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| International Development Association |
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| Bank for International Settlements (BIS) |
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International Finance Overhead 2.4 |
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Exchange Rate Determination
Key Terms Depreciation |
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A decline in a currencys value |
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| Appreciation |
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An increase in a currencys value |
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| Direct Quotation |
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Number of home currency per foreign currency |
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| Equilibrium Exchange Rate |
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Money is a commodity that is bought and sold. The intersection of supply and demand is that currencys price. |
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| Arbitrage |
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Action to capitalize on a discrepancy in quoted prices. In many cases, there is no investment of funds tied up for any length of time. Takes into account forward exchange rates and interest rates. |
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| Interest Rates | |
| Prime Rate LIBOR London Interbank Offer Rate |
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International Finance Overhead 3.1 |
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Factors Affecting Exchange Rates
Relative Interest Rates |
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Differences in rates between countries. When interest rates are low, fewer people want to invest (buy) that currency. Demand is low, so currency depreciates. |
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| Real Interest Rates |
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Real Interest Rate = Nominal Interest Rate (quoted rate) - Inflation |
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| Relative Income Level |
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Countries with more purchasing power buy more goods and need more money. |
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| Government Controls Expectations |
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International Finance Overhead 3.2 |
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Session Two International Finance Class
| Topic | Content | References |
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Class Preparation: |
Overhead Projector | |
| Recap |
Summary from last class | Overhead of summary 4.0 |
| Have each person in class introduce themselves and what they want to get out of class, background, etc. | On flipchart, write down each persons objectives. | |
| Introduce topic for this Class | Overhead of agenda for this class. | |
| Guest Speaker | Introduce Speakers topic | |
| Exposure to Exchange Rate Changes | What is exchange rate risk? Is exchange rate risk relevant? Is it as important to large corporations as much as it is small ones? |
Solicit answers from the class. |
| Transaction Exposure | Examples: accounts payable and accounts receivable for a corporation. | Overhead 4.2 |
| Hedging | Solutions to transaction exposure: Hedging explain different hedging options. |
Overhead 4.1 |
| Forward Contracts Banks normally handle these over the phone. |
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| Futures Contracts These are like forward contracts only for a specified time period in a specified amount. |
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| Difference between futures and forwards. | Overhead of future vs. forwards. | |
| Currency Options These are as the name says, options. They are sold through brokers on the floor of the Chicago exchanges. |
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| Money Market Hedges | ||
| Basically, youre putting enough in the bank to cover payables. | ||
| Explain daily quotations in the Wall Street Journal. Point out spot quotations, futures, options, and forward contracts. | Show copy of article or demonstrate where the article is in the WSJ. Explain currency exchange section of the WSJ. | |
| Economic Exposure |
Transaction exposure is a subset of economic exposure. It includes not only impact to cash flows but revenue and expense as well. What will a change in exchange rates do to the demand for your product? What will change in exchange rate do for the cost of supplies? Example: Japanese saw the yen appreciating against their currency and knew their cars would soon be too expensive so they opened a Honda plant in the United States. |
Overhead 4.3 |
| Translation Exposure |
Important to large corporations that have business in several countries. Example: Penn Racquet has manufacturing plan in Ireland. What happens if the Irish currency goes down? What happens if it goes up? Has Penn really made any more money? |
Overhead 4.4 |
| Group Exercise (time permitting) |
Discussion on economic and transaction exposure. Break class into groups of 3 or so students. 1. Wedcos pricing strategy. Answer: Wedco avoids transaction exposure, but not economic exposure. If the European currencies weaken against the dollar, European customers would have to pay more for Wedcos materials. This may encourage customers to purchase their materials from other firms. 2. Circon Corps short payment. Answer: The exchange rate may not fluctuate as much over a short period of time, so that Circons exchange rate risk over a period of time is limited. 3. Telematics exposure. Answer: Telematics has sales to European customers some of which are denominated British pounds. Since Telematics did not hedge its exposure, the pound depreciated. Why? Guessed wrong or didnt understand hedging. |
Handhout US Firms Abroad Ride Shifting Waves of Currency from Madura text page 345. |
| Midterm Exam | Open book, open notes, but not open neighbor. Takes about 40 minutes. | Hand out midterm exam. |
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Exchange Rate Risk
Why Exchange Rate Risk is Relevant |
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Impacts cash flow transaction exposure |
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| Hedging Action taken to insulate a firm from exposure to exchange rate fluctuations. Forward Contracts An agreement between a company and a bank to exchange a specified amount of currency at a specified rate (the forward rate) in a specified number of days. Amount and time period are tailored to the firms needs. Currency Futures Contracts Traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, these allow for a standard volume of a particular currency to be exchanged on a specific settlement date. Currency Options Traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Exchange. |
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Call Options grants the right to buy a specific price (strike price) within a specific period of time. |
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Options do not have to be exercised!
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| Money Market Hedge Borrowing cash (or investing excess cash) in the currency that the firm will be receiving at a future deal. This assumes that the current currency value, plus earned interest, will equal the desired value on the future date. Currency Swap Agreement to exchange one currency for another at a specified exchange rate and date. Banks commonly serve as intermediaries between two parties who wish to engage in a currency swap. Used for long term currency hedging. |
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International Finance Overhead 4.1 |
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Transaction Exposure
Def: Degree to which the value of future cash transactions can be affected by exchange rate fluctuations. |
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measure net change in foreign currency for specified time frame: |
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estimate future change foreign exchange rate. |
| Step Three | calculate transactions exposure: Net Change in Currency Position x Change in Exchange Rate = Transaction Exposure |
| Possible Solutions |
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Futures Hedge |
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International Finance Overhead 4.2 |
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Economic Exposure
Def: How the firms revenues and costs will respond to exchange rate changes, i.e. how sales and purchases will be impacted by changes in currency values. Firms can attempt to measure their economic exposure by determining the extent to which their cash flows will be affected by their exposure to each foreign currency. Possible Solutions |
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Diversify customer base so inflows are coming in from several different areas. |
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International Finance Overhead 4.3 |
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Translation Exposure
Def: Degree to which a firms consolidated financial statements are influenced by fluctuations in exchange rates. This exposure results when a multinational corporation translates each subsidiarys financial data to its home currency. |
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To measure translation exposure, companies need to forecast their earnings in each foreign currency, and then determine the potential exchange rate movements relative to their home currency. |
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| Possible Solutions |
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| Can use the same hedging techniques as transaction exposure for revenue coming in from subsidiaries. Can leave exposure alone and just disclose it to shareholders since no wealth is actually created or destroyed in many cases. |
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International Finance Overhead 4.4 |
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Session Four International Finance Class
| Topic | Content | References |
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Class Preparation: |
Overhead Projector | |
| Recap | Summary from last class | Overhead for summary |
| Introduce topic for this class | Overhead for agenda for this class | |
| Guest Speaker | Introduce Speaker | |
| Discussion on Speakers topic | ||
| Payment Terms | There are five basic types of payment terms for international trade: Cash in advance Letter of credit Documentary collection draft Open account and extended terms (All of these should have been covered by guest speaker.) Ask if there are any questions. |
Overhead 5.1 Handout International Payment Terms |
| Break 10 minutes |
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| International Banking | Ask class: Why would a bank want to expand internationally? | Overhead 5.2 |
| Euro-Currency Market | The very largest corporations and governments will use a Eurobank. Eurodollars refer to deposits. Eurobonds refer to loans. |
Overhead 5.3 |
| Banking Regulations | Most countries have one central bank or governing body, the US has many. Differences is that there are 9 banks in Canada, 5 large ones in England and 11,000 banks in the US! Ten years ago there were 15,000! Problem is that US until recently did not allow full scale interstate banking, so a new bank was opened in each state. Some states such as Texas, didnt even allow branch banking and each branch had to be its own bank. |
Overhead 5.4 |
| International Debt Crisis | Follow the description from the overheads. Ask class: what would you have done if you were a banker faced with this crisis? |
Overhead 5.5 |
| Country Risk Analysis | Developed as a way to positively quantify the risk of a country. Used by every bank that makes international loans. | Overhead 5.6 |
| Review Midterm Exam | Hand out mid term and discuss |
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International Finance Group Exercise
Wall Street Journal, September 14, 1995 |
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| 1.Why would the Treasurys intervention in the market create a spat with Fed? 2.Why would taking the market by surprise be a good move by the US Treasury? 3.Why would a huge US trade deficit drag the price of the dollar down? 4.Why does the US dollar have allure as a safe haven investment? 5.Why would Japan want to propel the dollar higher? |
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International Finance Group Exercise
Wall Street Journal, September 14, 1995 |
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| 1. Why would the Treasurys intervention in the market create a spat with the Fed? The Feds goal is to control the money supply and to control inflation. Treasurys goal is to control the foreign exchange rates by pushing down the value of the dollar to create demand for US exports. These goals can be at odds with each other. For example, increasing demand for US exports may increase the money supply in the US and possibly increase inflation. 4. Why would taking the market by surprise be a good move by the US Treasury? This would reduce speculation by investors and make the Treasury move more effective. 5. Why would a huge US trade deficit drag the price of the dollar down More government spending will increase the dollars in circulation and lower the value of the dollar. 6. Why does the US dollar have allure as a safe haven investment? US is seen as economically and politically stable. Dollar is traded worldwide and accepted world wide. 7. Why would Japan want to propel the dollar higher? To increase demand for their exports. |
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Summary
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| Comparative Advantage/ Absolute Advantage Economies of Scale Adverse Effects of International Trade Arguments For/Against Protectionism Groups that promote free trade: NAFTA, EC, GATT Balance of Payments |
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| Current Account Deficit Current Account Surplus |
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| Factors Affecting the Current Account International Monetary Fund, World Bank Exchange Rate Terms: |
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| Appreciation Direct Quotation Equilibrium Depreciation Indirect Quotation Arbitrage |
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| Factors that Affect Exchange Rates | |
International Summary 1
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Summary
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| Transaction Exposure (payment risk) | |
| Hedging: Forward Hedge Futures Hedge Money Market Hedge Options Currency Swap |
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| Economic Exposure (business risk) Translation Exposure (consolidating financials) Exim Bank Programs |
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| Working Capital Guarantees Foreign Receivables Insurance Medium Term Export Guarantees |
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| Arizona Exporter Loan Guarantee Program Department of Agriculture's Commodity Credit Corporation |
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International Summary 2
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INTERNATIONAL BANKING
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| Reasons for Banks to Expand Internationally Types of International Entities |
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| Branch Banks Edge Act Corporations International Banking Facilities |
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| Eurocurrency Markets |
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| Eurobanks Eurodollars Eurobonds |
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| Banking Regulations Among Countries International Debt Crisis |
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International Finance Summary 3
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| Last updated: May 27, 2005 Paradise Valley Community College- URL-http://www.pvc.maricopa.edu © 2005 Maricopa County Community College District. All Rights Reserved. Please send your questions and comments via email to Michele Marion at michele.marion@pvmail.maricopa.edu |
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