Glosario

El concepto estrategia de riesgo de divisas o de hedging, como se le conoce por su nombre en inglés, engloba todas las reglas y procesos que los inversores y las empresas internacionales implementan con el fin de proteger sus márgenes del impacto de las variaciones del tipo de cambio.

Tipos de cobertura de riesgo

El método más común de cobertura de riesgo de tipo de cambio consiste en la adquisición de productos financieros, como los swap de divisas, los contratos forward , los futuros o las opciones. De distinta manera, estos productos compensan la fluctuación de los tipos de cambio, de modo que protegen la inversión de la empresa del riesgo de devaluación de la divisa.

En un entorno corporativo cada vez más competitivo e internacionalizado, hacer negocios fuera de las propias fronteras es cada vez más común. En este contexto, la estrategia cobertura del riesgo se convierte en un elemento esencial para evitar que las variaciones en el tipo de cambio erosionen la rentabilidad o la competitividad de una determinada línea de negocio.

Una estrategia de hedging multinivel o layered hedging strategy, como se conoce en inglés, es un proceso diseñado para aumentar la flexibilidad en la gestión del riesgo de tipo de cambio de una empresa. La diferencia principal es que utiliza instrumentos de cobertura con fechas distintas de inicio y vencimiento, en lugar de productos únicos que cubran todo el ciclo de exposición.

Las empresas que utilizan esta estrategia disfrutan de dos ventajas principales: por un lado, pueden calcular sus ingresos en divisa de forma más efectiva y, por otro, tienen más flexibilidad para cubrir su exposición acumulada.

Las estrategias de hedging multinivel son más prácticas y ofrecen mejores resultados  que el pre-hedging, sin embargo, existen alternativas que van un paso más allá. El Kantox Dynamic Hedging® proporciona una fiabilidad absoluta por que permite ejecutar micro-coberturas del riesgo de divisa desde el mismo momento en que se genera.

The European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) is an EU regulation implemented by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) that came into force on 16 August 2012.

Its primary aim is to supervise all over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives - such as forward or futures contracts- through measures to improve transparency and reduce risk in the financial system.

EMIR established three key provisions:

1. Clearing

Derivatives should be cleared through a central counterparty. Foreign exchange derivatives include forward contracts, options and swaps. Clearing must be approved by a competent authority authorised by ESMA.

2. Risk mitigation for non-cleared derivatives

This includes the exchange of collateral and ensuring mitigation procedures are in place. Risk-mitigation procedures are designed to measure, monitor and mitigate the operational and credit risk arising from such contracts.

3. Reporting to Trade Repositories (TR)

All derivative contracts (without exception) must be reported to a Trade Repository on a T+1 business day (transaction date + 1 business day) basis. These reports are to include a considerable amount of information, including details such as derivative class and contract terms.

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An exchange rate is the price of one country’s currency in terms of another currency, often known as the reference currency. For example, EUR-USD = 1.25 expresses the number of U.S. dollars that one euro will buy. In this example, EUR is the base currency. The same exchange rate, however, can be expressed as USD-EUR = 0.80, showing the number of euros that one dollar will buy. In this case, USD is the base currency. Exchange rates can be for spot or forward delivery. A spot rate is the price at which a currency is traded for delivery in 48 hours, while the forward rate is the price at which FX is quoted for delivery at a specified future date. Exchange rates are determined by the interplay of demand and supply forces in the foreign exchange market, an electronically linked network of banks and FX dealers whose function is to bring together buyers and sellers of foreign exchange.

Exchange rate forecasts are quarterly estimations of the future levels of exchange rates over the next four quarters. They are undertaken by economists and currency analysts working for portfolio management firms and investment banks. Exchange rate forecasts are for the most part based on expectations regarding macroeconomic variables, interest rate differentials, sentiment, and even political events. Once these individual forecasts are out, their average —for each currency pair— is presented in a variety of surveys. Some companies incorporate such average forecast exchange rates as ‘budget rates’ for a period. However, given the unpredictable nature of currency moves, the reliability of exchange rate forecasts remains an open question.

Exchange rate risk or foreign currency risk is the possibility that currency fluctuations can affect a firm’s expected future operating cash flows, i.e., its future revenues and costs. For companies desiring to take advantage of the growth opportunities derived from buying and selling in multiple currencies, effectively managing currency risk is an essential task. Exchange rate risk can be decomposed into: Pricing risk Accounting risk Transaction risk Operating risk Pricing risk refers to possible exchange rate fluctuations between the moment a company prices a transaction and the moment it is formally agreed. Accounting risk reflects changes in income statement and balance sheet items caused by currency fluctuations. Transaction risk refers to future FX-denominated cash flows that result from existing, contractually binding firm commitments (sales or purchase orders), whether or not the corresponding receivables/payables have been created. Operating risk measures the extent to which currency fluctuations alter the firm’s future operating cash flows, that is, its future revenues and costs. Finally, economic exposure comprises the two cash flow exposures: transaction exposure and operating exposure.

Exotic options are variations of simple call and put options. Traded in Over-the-Counter (OTC) markets, exotic options allow traders to manage risks in ways that ordinary options cannot achieve. A call option to buy a put option, also known as a Caput option, is a simple example of an exotic option. Other examples include chooser options, allowing a trader to decide whether the contract is a call or a put at some point over the contract’s life. Also, Asian options have no set strike price and are calculated as the average of some price listed in the contract and the market value of the underlying assets. Due to their complex nature, exotic options are not the most suitable products for corporate treasurers wishing to protect their profits from FX risk.