Foreign exchange hedge

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A foreign exchange hedge (also called a FOREX hedge) is a method used by companies to eliminate or "hedge" their foreign exchange risk resulting from transactions in foreign currencies (see foreign exchange derivative). This is done using either the cash flow hedge or the fair value method. The accounting rules for this are addressed by both the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and by the US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) as well as other national accounting standards.

Contents

A foreign exchange hedge transfers the foreign exchange risk from the trading or investing company to a business that carries the risk, such as a bank. There is a cost to the company for setting up a hedge. By setting up a hedge, the company also forgoes any profit if the movement in the exchange rate would be favourable to it.

Foreign exchange risk

When companies conduct business across borders, they must deal in foreign currencies. Companies must exchange foreign currencies for home currencies when dealing with receivables, and vice versa for payables. This is done at the current exchange rate between the two countries. Foreign exchange risk is the risk that the exchange rate will change unfavorably before payment is made or received in the currency . For example, if a United States company doing business in Japan is compensated in yen, that company has risk associated with fluctuations in the value of the yen versus the United States dollar. [1]

Hedge

A hedge is a type of derivative, or a financial instrument, that derives its value from an underlying asset. Hedging is a way for a company to minimize or eliminate foreign exchange risk. Two common hedges are forward contracts and options.

A forward contract will lock in an exchange rate today at which the currency transaction will occur at the future date. [2]

An option sets an exchange rate at which the company may choose to exchange currencies. If the current exchange rate is more favorable, then the company will not exercise this option. [2]

The main difference between the hedge methods is who derives the benefit of a favourable movement in the exchange rate. With a forward contract the other party derives the benefit, while with an option the company retains the benefit by choosing not to exercise the option if the exchange rate moves in its favour. [3]

Accounting for Derivatives

Under IFRS

Guidelines for accounting for financial derivatives are given under IFRS 7. Under this standard, “an entity shall group financial instruments into classes that are appropriate to the nature of the information disclosed and that take into account the characteristics of those financial instruments. An entity shall provide sufficient information to permit reconciliation to the line items presented in the balance sheet”. [4] Derivatives should be grouped together on the balance sheet and valuation information should be disclosed in the footnotes. This seems fairly straightforward, but IASB has issued two standards to help further explain this procedure.

The International Accounting Standards IAS 32 and 39 help to give further direction for the proper accounting of derivative financial instruments. IAS 32 defines a “financial instrument” as “any contract that gives rise to a financial asset of one entity and a financial liability or equity instrument of another entity”. [5] Therefore, a forward contract or option would create a financial asset for one entity and a financial liability for another. The entity required to pay the contract holds a liability, while the entity receiving the contract payment holds an asset. These would be recorded under the appropriate headings on the balance sheet of the respective companies. IAS 39 gives further instruction, stating that the financial derivatives be recorded at fair value on the balance sheet. IAS 39 defines two major types of hedges. The first is a cash flow hedge, defined as: “a hedge of the exposure to variability in cash flows that (i) is attributable to a particular risk associated with a recognized asset or liability or a highly probable forecast transaction, and (ii) could affect profit or loss”. [6] In other words, a cash flow hedge is designed to eliminate the risk associated with cash transactions that can affect the amounts recorded in net income.

Below is an example of a cash flow hedge for a company purchasing Inventory items in year 1 and making the payment for them in year 2, after the exchange rate has changed.

DateSpot RateUS $ valueChangeFwd. RateUS $ valueFV of contractChange
12/1/Y1$1.00$20,000.00$0.00$1.04$20,800.00$0.00$0.00
12/31/Y1$1.05$21,000.00$1,000.00$1.10$22,000.00($1,176.36)($1,176.36)
3/2/Y2$1.12$22,400.00$1,400.00$1.12$22,400.00($1,600.00)($423.64)

Cash Flow Hedge Example

12/1/Y1Inventory$20,000.00To record purchase and A/P of 20000C
A/P$20,000.00
12/31/Y1Foreign Exchange Loss$1,000.00To adjust value for spot of $1.05
A/P$1,000.00
AOCI$1,000.00To record a gain on the forward contract
Gain on Forward Contract$1,000.00
Forward Contract$1,176.36To record the forward contract as an asset
AOCI$1,176.36
Premium Expense$266.67Allocate the fwd contract discount
AOCI$266.67
3/1/Y2Foreign Exchange Loss$1,400.00To adjust value for spot of $1.12
A/P$1,400.00
AOCI$1,400.00To record a gain on the forward cont.
Gain on Forward Contract$1,400.00
Forward Contract$423.64To adjust the fwd. cont. to its FV of $1600
AOCI$423.64
Premium Expense$533.33To allocate the remaining fwd. cont. discount
AOCI$533.33
Foreign Currency$22,400.00To record the settlement of the fwd. cont.
Forward Contract$1,600.00
Cash$20,800.00
A/P$22,400.00To record the payment of the A/P
Foreign Currency$22,400.00

Notice how in year 2 when the payable is paid off, the amount of cash paid is equal to the forward rate of exchange back in year 1. Any change in the forward rate, however, changes the value of the forward contract. In this example, the exchange rate climbed in both years, increasing the value of the forward contract. Since the derivative instruments are required to be recorded at fair value, these adjustments must be made to the forward contract listed on the books. The offsetting account is other comprehensive income. This process allows the gain and loss on the position to be shown in Net income.

The second is a fair value hedge. Again, according to IAS 39 this is “a hedge of the exposure to changes in fair value of a recognized asset or liability or an unrecognized firm commitment, or an identified portion of such an asset, liability or firm commitment, that is attributable to a particular risk and could affect profit or loss”. [6] More simply, this type of hedge would eliminate the fair value risk of assets and liabilities reported on the Balance sheet. Since Accounts receivable and payable are recorded here, a fair value hedge may be used for these items. The following are the journal entries that would be made if the previous example were a fair value hedge.

Fair Value Hedge Example

12/1/Y1Inventory$20,000.00to record purchase and A/P of 20000C
A/P$20,000.00
12/31/Y1Foreign Exchange Loss$1,000.00to adjust value for S.R of $1.05
A/P$1,000.00
Forward Contract$1,176.36to record forward contract at fair value
Gain on Forward Contract$1,176.36
3/1/Y2Foreign Exchange Loss$1,400.00to adjust value for S.R. of $1.12
A/P$1,400.00
Forward Contract$423.64to adjust the fwd. contract to its FV
Gain on Forward Contract$423.64
Foreign Currency$22,400.00to record the settlement of the fwd. cont.
Forward Contract$1,600.00
Cash$20,800.00
A/P$22,400.00to record the payment of the A/P
Foreign Currency$22,400.00

Again, notice that the amounts paid are the same as in the cash flow hedge. The big difference here is that the adjustments are made directly to the assets and not to the other comprehensive income holding account. This is because this type of hedge is more concerned with the fair value of the asset or liability (in this case the account payable) than it is with the profit and loss position of the entity.

Under US GAAP

The US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles also include instruction on accounting for derivatives. For the most part, the rules are similar to those given under IFRS. The standards that include these guidelines are SFAS 133 and 138. SFAS 133, written in 1998, stated that a “recognized asset or liability that may give rise to a foreign currency transaction gain or loss under Statement 52 (such as a foreign-currency-denominated receivable or payable) not be the hedged item in a foreign currency fair value or cash flow hedge”. [7] Based on the language used in the statement, this was done because the FASB felt that the assets and liabilities listed on a company’s books should reflect their historic cost value, rather than being adjusted for fair value. The use of a hedge would cause them to be revalued as such. Remember that the value of the hedge is derived from the value of the underlying asset. The amount recorded at payment or reception would differ from the value of the derivative recorded under SFAS 133. As illustrated above in the example, this difference between the hedge value and the asset or liability value can be effectively accounted for by using either a cash flow or a fair value hedge. Thus, two years later FASB issued SFAS 138 which amended SFAS 133 and allowed both cash flow and fair value hedges for foreign exchanges. Citing the reasons given previously, SFAS 138 required the recording of derivative assets at fair value based on the prevailing spot rate. [8]

Do companies hedge?

Since 2004, the Bank of Canada has carried out a qualitative annual survey to assess the degree of activity in Canadian foreign exchange (FX) hedging. The survey participants consist of banks that are active in Canadian FX markets, including the eleven members of the Canadian Foreign Exchange Committee (CFEC). The main findings for the 2013 survey were: [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

In finance, a derivative is a contract that derives its value from the performance of an underlying entity. This underlying entity can be an asset, index, or interest rate, and is often simply called the underlying. Derivatives can be used for a number of purposes, including insuring against price movements (hedging), increasing exposure to price movements for speculation, or getting access to otherwise hard-to-trade assets or markets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Financial Reporting Standards</span> Technical standard

International Financial Reporting Standards, commonly called IFRS, are accounting standards issued by the IFRS Foundation and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). They constitute a standardised way of describing the company's financial performance and position so that company financial statements are understandable and comparable across international boundaries. They are particularly relevant for companies with shares or securities publicly listed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historical cost</span>

The historical cost of an asset at the time it is acquired or created is the value of the costs incurred in acquiring or creating the asset, comprising the consideration paid to acquire or create the asset plus transaction costs. Historical cost accounting involves reporting assets and liabilities at their historical costs, which are not updated for changes in the items' values. Consequently, the amounts reported for these balance sheet items often differ from their current economic or market values.

Financial instruments are monetary contracts between parties. They can be created, traded, modified and settled. They can be cash (currency), evidence of an ownership interest in an entity or a contractual right to receive or deliver in the form of currency (forex); debt ; equity (shares); or derivatives.

A hedge is an investment position intended to offset potential losses or gains that may be incurred by a companion investment. A hedge can be constructed from many types of financial instruments, including stocks, exchange-traded funds, insurance, forward contracts, swaps, options, gambles, many types of over-the-counter and derivative products, and futures contracts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark-to-market accounting</span> Accounting practice

Mark-to-market or fair value accounting is accounting for the "fair value" of an asset or liability based on the current market price, or the price for similar assets and liabilities, or based on another objectively assessed "fair" value. Fair value accounting has been a part of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in the United States since the early 1990s. Failure to use it is viewed as the cause of the Orange County Bankruptcy, even though its use is considered to be one of the reasons for the Enron scandal and the eventual bankruptcy of the company, as well as the closure of the accounting firm Arthur Andersen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Financial accounting</span> Field of accounting

Financial accounting is a branch of accounting concerned with the summary, analysis and reporting of financial transactions related to a business. This involves the preparation of financial statements available for public use. Stockholders, suppliers, banks, employees, government agencies, business owners, and other stakeholders are examples of people interested in receiving such information for decision making purposes.

In finance, a swap is an agreement between two counterparties to exchange financial instruments, cashflows, or payments for a certain time. The instruments can be almost anything but most swaps involve cash based on a notional principal amount.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fair value</span> Financial estimation of potential market price

In accounting, fair value is a rational and unbiased estimate of the potential market price of a good, service, or asset. The derivation takes into account such objective factors as the costs associated with production or replacement, market conditions and matters of supply and demand. Subjective factors may also be considered such as the risk characteristics, the cost of and return on capital, and individually perceived utility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cash and cash equivalents</span> Highly liquid, short-term assets

(CCE) are the most liquid current assets found on a business's balance sheet. Cash equivalents are short-term commitments "with temporarily idle cash and easily convertible into a known cash amount". An investment normally counts as a cash equivalent when it has a short maturity period of 90 days or less, and can be included in the cash and cash equivalents balance from the date of acquisition when it carries an insignificant risk of changes in the asset value. If it has a maturity of more than 90 days, it is not considered a cash equivalent. Equity investments mostly are excluded from cash equivalents, unless they are essentially cash equivalents.

Foreign exchange risk is a financial risk that exists when a financial transaction is denominated in a currency other than the domestic currency of the company. The exchange risk arises when there is a risk of an unfavourable change in exchange rate between the domestic currency and the denominated currency before the date when the transaction is completed.

The forward exchange rate is the exchange rate at which a bank agrees to exchange one currency for another at a future date when it enters into a forward contract with an investor. Multinational corporations, banks, and other financial institutions enter into forward contracts to take advantage of the forward rate for hedging purposes. The forward exchange rate is determined by a parity relationship among the spot exchange rate and differences in interest rates between two countries, which reflects an economic equilibrium in the foreign exchange market under which arbitrage opportunities are eliminated. When in equilibrium, and when interest rates vary across two countries, the parity condition implies that the forward rate includes a premium or discount reflecting the interest rate differential. Forward exchange rates have important theoretical implications for forecasting future spot exchange rates. Financial economists have put forth a hypothesis that the forward rate accurately predicts the future spot rate, for which empirical evidence is mixed.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to finance:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hedge accounting</span>

Hedge accounting is an accountancy practice, the aim of which is to provide an offset to the mark-to-market movement of the derivative in the profit and loss account.

Launched prior to the millennium, FAS 133 Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities provided an "integrated accounting framework for derivative instruments and hedging activities."

A financial asset is a non-physical asset whose value is derived from a contractual claim, such as bank deposits, bonds, and participations in companies' share capital. Financial assets are usually more liquid than tangible assets, such as commodities or real estate.

The accounting term Hedge relationship relates to the treatment of an insurance contract for risk mitigation on an underlying asset, and the set of tests for the valuation of this insurer/insuree contract. More specifically, "Hedge relationship" describes the criteria for including the fair value of derivatives on balance sheet as part of an effort to regulate and normalize the use of hedging in corporate accounting.

Impairment of assets is the diminishing in quality, strength, amount, or value of an asset. An impairment cost must be included under expenses when the book value of an asset exceeds the recoverable amount. Fixed assets, commonly known as PPE, refers to long-lived assets such as buildings, land, machinery, and equipment; these assets are the most likely to experience impairment, which may be caused by several factors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">IFRS 9</span>

IFRS 9 is an International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) published by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). It addresses the accounting for financial instruments. It contains three main topics: classification and measurement of financial instruments, impairment of financial assets and hedge accounting. The standard came into force on 1 January 2018, replacing the earlier IFRS for financial instruments, IAS 39.

Currency analytics comprise the framework, technology and tools that enable global companies to manage the risk associated with currency volatility. Currency analytics often involve automation that helps companies access and validate currency exposure data and make decisions that mitigate foreign exchange risk.

References

  1. "Foreign Exchange Controls". Top Forex News. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  2. 1 2 John C Hull, Options, Futures and Other Derivatives (6th edition), Prentice Hall: New Jersey, USA, 2006, 3
  3. "best trading signals". [toptradingsignals.net]. August 17, 2022.
  4. International Accounting Standards Board. IFRS 7
  5. International Accounting Standards Board. IAS 32
  6. 1 2 International Accounting Standards Board. IAS 39
  7. Financial Accounting Standards Board SFAS 133
  8. Financial Accounting Standards Board. SFAS 138
  9. "Summary of the 2013 Survey on Canadian Foreign Exchange Hedging". Bank of Canada. Retrieved 17 December 2013.