Question:

You have been appointed as the head of the treasury of Platza International, an automobile firm with many subsidiaries abroad. The management of Platza International is relatively non-finance people and as one of your task, you are expected to advise management of the potential currency exposure the firm might face and on the management of currency risk.

a) Explain to management the difference between transaction and translation risk, using appropriate numerical examples.

b) One of the directors has heard that transaction exposure can equally be managed externally by a forward hedge or internally by a money market hedge. He is very confused about these. Explain to him how these two hedging strategies differ and make an evaluation of both methods for him.

c) The same director also wants to know the implications of hedging through futures market. Provide an answer to him.

d) Another director has heard that the pricing of the forward contract is based on the concept of interest rate parity. He is very confused about the pricing. Derive and explain how a forward rate is normally priced. Explain to him how the pricing differs for the case of shares.