FINM7405 Interest rate swaps and currency swaps
Interest rate swaps and currency swaps
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FINM7405 Interest rate swaps and currency swaps
• Swaps
• Interest rate swaps
-Mechanism
-Why use interest rate swaps?
-Pricing
• Currency swaps
-Mechanism
-Why use currency swaps?
-Pricing
Outline
2
•Agreements to exchange a series of cash flows on periodic dates
•Swaps are similar to forwards:
- Swaps typically do not require payment by either party at initiation (except currency
swaps)
- Swaps are traded OTC and not standardized
- Swaps are regulated by International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) in
the global market, and by Australian Financial Markets Association (AFMA) in
Australia
- Although regulations exist, default risk is high for swap transactions
•Two most common swaps:
- Interest rate swap
- Currency swap
Swaps
3
• An agreement to exchange fixed rate for floating (variable) rate over the tenor (i.e., life) of the
swap
- Suppose I lend you $100 at 4% pa fixed rate and you lend me $100 at variable (i.e., floating)
rate for 3 years. Interest is paid semi-annually.
- Thus we have an interest rate swap with a tenor of 3 yrs
- Both loan amounts are equal, hence it is pointless to exchange $100.
- Also, it is pointless to exchange the full interest amount every 6 mths. Only the party with the
larger payment liability pays the difference. Example: If the floating rate is 6% pa, I pay you
$1. If the floating rate is 3% pa, you pay me $0.50
- In the above, you are the fixed rate payer (i.e., ‘payer’) and I am the fixed rate receiver (i.e.,
‘receiver’). As a fixed rate receiver, I pay floating rate.
- We don’t usually use the terms ‘floating rate payer’ or ‘floating rate receiver’.
Interest rate swap
4
•To transform a liability
-Suppose company A borrowed at LIBOR floating rate + a margin of 50 bps.
Company A already has many variable rate borrowings and wanted to convert
the above into fixed rate borrowing.
-Suppose company B has just issued an 8% coupon bond, in addition to other
fixed rate borrowings. Company B wanted to convert the above to variable
rate borrowing.
-Hence, companies A and B can do an interest rate swap. Let’s assume the
fixed swap rate is 6%
Why do we use interest rate swap?
5
6Company B
Effective
borrowing rate
for Company A
= 6.5%
Effective
borrowing rate
for Company B
= LIBOR + 2%
Why do we use interest rate swap?
Variable Bank
Loan
Company A
LIBOR +
50 bp
Fixed Coupon
Bond
8% fixed
6% LIBOR
• Suppose company F holds floating rate notes issued in Australia. Thus, it receives BBSW
minus 30 bps margin. BBSW (Bank Bill Swap Rate) is analogous to LIBOR; it is the reference
rate at which variable rates in Australia are set upon. Company F wanted to convert its cash
inflow into fixed amount.
• Suppose company V holds 5.8% fixed coupon bonds and wanted to convert its cash inflow
into variable amount
• Thus, companies F and V can do an interest rate swap. Let’s assume the fixed swap rate is
6%.
To transform an asset
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-Usually, companies F and V won’t directly transact the interest rate swap.
They will do this through a financial intermediary (FI)
- In the example below, FI earns a 4 bps spread but each of F and V receives 2
bps less.
To transform an asset
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- If you predict that the yield will increase (price will decrease) in the future, you
can try to speculate on your prediction by
Sell bond futures (sell high now, close out by buy low later), or
Enter into an interest rate swap as a fixed-rate payer (pay fixed, receive
floating). Reason:
- It can be shown (later) that if yield increases, the fixed coupon bond will trade
at discount. The effect is such that the swap has a positive value to fixed rate
payer
To speculate:
9
- Suppose you were a liability manager and you have issued/sold a fixed coupon bond. To hedge the risk
of a falling yield (bond price or value of your liability increases), you can
Buy back the bond, or
Enter into an interest rate swap as a fixed-rate receiver (receive fixed, pay floating). Reason:
• It can be shown (later) that if yield decreases, the fixed coupon bond will trade at premium.
The effect is such that the swap has a positive value to fixed rate receiver. This positive swap
value offsets the increase in your liability zero net effect
• It can be shown (later) that if yield increases, the fixed coupon bond will trade at discount.
The effect is such that the swap has a negative value to fixed rate receiver. This negative
swap value offsets the decrease in your liability zero net effect
- Note also that a receive fixed, pay floating swap has the same effect as decreasing duration. This is
because this swap implies that you issue short-term floating rate notes (thus pay floating rate) and use
the proceeds to buy back long-term bonds (thus receive fixed rate)
To hedge:
10
•Suppose we are the fixed rate payer (we pay fixed rate and receive floating rate).
•We can replicate this effect using a clever combination of basic bonds:
- Issue fixed coupon bond
- Invest the proceeds in floating rate coupon bond with the same maturity and
payment dates as the above fixed coupon bond
- On each interest payment date, we pay fixed coupon and receive floating rate
- OR
- Issue fixed coupon bond
- Invest the proceeds in short-term floating rate notes (e.g., 6-mth floating rate note)
and roll-over successively until the maturity of the above fixed coupon bond
Replicating an interest rate swap
11
•Thus, we can value an interest rate swap by aggregating the value of each of the
components in the portfolio:
- Value a fixed coupon bond (discussed a few weeks ago)
- Value a floating rate coupon bond with the same maturity and payment dates as the
above fixed coupon bond
The value is equal to the par value on interest repayment dates
The value is greater than the par value on non-interest repayment dates
•Why is the floating rate coupon bond always repriced to par on interest repayment
dates?
- To understand this, remember first that the floating rate interest is always set in
advance, but paid at the next period
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- The floating rate interest is always set in advance, but paid at the next period
- For a floating rate coupon bond, the coupon rate, which determines the coupon payment at
next periods, is set to the market yield.
- When coupon rate = yield, the bond is priced on par
- Example: Suppose the current YTM for the floating rate coupon bond = 4% pa. The coupon
rate of this bond will be set equal to this yield, and thus, today (t=0), the floating rate coupon
bond is priced at 100.
Why is the floating rate coupon bond always repriced to par on interest
repayment dates?
13
22 2 2 2
100+
2
remaining
periods
Coupon rate set
today (i.e., t=0)
but paid at
t=1,2,…
One period has passed. Suppose the current YTM for the floating rate coupon bond =
6% pa. The coupon rate of this bond will be reset (updated) equal to this yield, and
thus, today (t=0), the floating rate coupon bond is repriced to 100, again.
The above process is repeated on each repayment date i.e., coupon rate is reset (i.e.,
updated) to the yield of the floating rate bond on each repayment date, which means
that the floating rate coupon bond is always repriced to par
Why is the floating rate coupon bond always repriced to par on
interest repayment dates?
14
3 3 3 3
100 +
3
remaining
periods
Coupon rate set
today (i.e., t=0)
but paid at
t=1,2,…
0 1 2 3 4 5
o Note also we can value an interest rate swap by aggregating the value of
each of the components in the portfolio:
Value a fixed coupon bond
Value a short-term floating rate note (e.g., 6-mth floating rate note) and
roll-over successively until the maturity of the above fixed coupon bond
The value is equal to the par value on interest repayment dates
The value is greater than the par value on non-interest repayment dates
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Example: Suppose today’s 6-mth LIBOR is 4% pa. LIBOR is a “simple rate” with
no compounding effect. Suppose you invest $100 in this 6-mth note, thus
getting an interest of $2 plus your $100 initial investment in the next period.
Why is the short-term floating rate note always repriced to par on
interest repayment dates?