rss

FX Initiative Blog

Actionable insights on foreign exchange risk management from FX Initiative.

April 2021 Newsletter

April FX Learning Agenda: Explore our April 2021 newsletter and discover the latest blog posts and insights from FX Initiative on currency risk management. We help finance, accounting, treasury, and sales professionals stay up to date with new training content, CPE webinars, and helpful tips & resources.

Scale the learning curve quickly and easily with our foreign exchange risk management training, which provides 24/7 365 access to our complete suite of foreign exchange (FX) continuing professional education (CPE), examples and events at FXCPE.com. Start Training >

 

Clarifying Currency Quoting Conventions

Clarifying Currency Quoting Conventions (Video): Distinguish the difference between direct and indirect currency quotations. This video is a preview of FX Initiative’s FX Market Overview course as part of Learning Objective #2.

 

To learn more, start your FX risk management training today, which provides 24/7 365 access to our complete suite of foreign exchange (FX) continuing professional education (CPE), examples & events at FXCPE.com.

 

CPE Webinar Invite: Cash Flow Hedging

Program Overview

FX Initiative cordially invites you to attend our webinar titled “Cash Flow Hedging” on Thursday, March 25th at 11AM Pacific / 2PM Eastern. Join us for a continuing professional education (CPE) program and earn CPE credit as we learn how to how to hedge and account for forecasted foreign exchange (FX) revenues and expenses. We will begin by defining the concept of a cash flow hedge, and how companies incorporate this type of hedge into a larger FX risk management program across the enterprise. We will then examine how FX revenues and expenses impact the financial statements with a focus on the limited visibility into a transaction’s FX gain or loss to date. From there, we will explore hedging FX revenues and expenses with forward contracts, and address the impact on cash flows as well as the options that are available to account for derivative instruments and hedging activities. Lastly, we will identify best practices for hedging forecasted FX transactions and emphasize how public and private companies prioritize their foreign exchange hedging objectives in order to achieve their desired risk management results.

Learning Objectives
  1. Discover the concept of a foreign exchange (FX) cash flow hedge.
  2. Explore how FX revenues and expenses impact the financial statements.
  3. Recognize the cash flow and accounting implications of cash flow hedges.
  4. Identify corporate best practices for hedging forecasted FX transactions.
Who Should Attend?

New and seasoned finance, accounting, treasury, and related professionals (CPA, CIA, CRMA, CFE, etc.) interested in international business.

Fortifying the FX Global Code


Fortifying the FX Global Code: The FX Global Code explains the set of global principles of good practice in the foreign exchange (FX) market, and was introduced by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Markets Committee in May 2017. To date, over 500 market participants have signed Statements of Commitment to the FX Global Code.

The FX Global Code aligns with the foreign exchange (FX) risk management best practices FX Initiative teaches to FX market participants, including FX sales teams and treasury professionals. The goal of the FX Global Code is to promote fairness in FX trading, and FX Initiative encourages our audience to learn about and benefit from the code in 2021.

 

Ready to learn more about FX risk management best practices? Start your FX risk management training today, which provides 24/7 365 access to our complete suite of foreign exchange (FX) continuing professional education (CPE), examples & events at FXCPE.com.

CPE Webinar Invite: Balance Sheet Hedging

Program Overview

FX Initiative cordially invites you to attend our webinar on Balance Sheet Hedging on Thursday, March 11th 2021 at 11AM Pacific / 2PM Eastern. Join us and learn how to hedge FX receivables & payables and mitigate FX gains & losses. This Balance Sheet Hedging webinar will teach you how to hedge foreign exchange (FX) receivables and payables to mitigate FX gains and losses on the Income Statement. We will begin by defining the concept of a balance sheet hedge, and explore why is it often viewed as the foundation of many corporate FX risk management programs. We will break down the impact of how FX receivables and payables, which are known as underlying positions, produce FX gains and losses on the financial statements from mark-to-market accounting treatment. We will then explore how to offset those underlying FX gains and losses on the Income Statement by hedging with forward contracts to reduce periodic earnings volatility. Finally, we examine best practices for optimizing balance sheet hedges by considering details such as accounting booking rates, netting of exposures, and adjusting hedges as balances change from cash inflows and outflows.

Learning Objectives
  1. Discover the concept of a foreign exchange (FX) balance sheet hedge program.
  2. Recognize how FX receivables and payables impact the financial statements.
  3. Explore how forward contracts can be used to mitigate FX gains and losses.
  4. Identify best practices for optimizing and adjusting balance sheet hedges.
Who Should Attend?

New and seasoned finance, accounting, treasury, and related professionals (CPA, CIA, CRMA, CFE, etc.) interested in international business.

March 2021 Newsletter

March FX Risk Management Mastery: Read our March newsletter and discover the latest blog posts and insights from FX Initiative on currency risk management. We help finance, accounting, treasury, and sales professionals stay up to date with new training content, CPE webinars, and helpful tips & resources.

Scale the learning curve quickly and easily with our foreign exchange risk management training, which provides 24/7 365 access to our complete suite of foreign exchange (FX) continuing professional education (CPE), examples and events at FXCPE.com. Start Training >

 

CPE Webinar Invite: FX Forward Contracts

Program Overview

FX Initiative cordially invites you to attend webinar titled "FX Forward Contracts" on Thursday, February 25th, 2021 at 11AM Pacific / 2PM Eastern. Join us and learn what forward contracts are and why they are the most used derivative. This FX Forward Contracts webinar will explain what forward contracts are and why they are the most used foreign exchange (FX) derivative among multinational corporations. We begin with a basic understanding of over-the-counter (OTC) foreign currency derivatives that are sold by commercial banks as part of their international treasury and risk management products. We will then delve into the fundamentals of forward contracts, including long and short positions and forward point premiums and discounts. Additionally, we will examine the payoff profile of a forward contract and review the economic cash flow and financial reporting implications. To conclude, we will look at the overwhelming popularity of forward contracts using the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) FX data as well as highlights from the annual reports (10-K) of several multinational corporations that deploy forward contracts to hedge currency risk.

Learning Objectives
  1. Discover the concept of over-the-counter (OTC) foreign currency derivatives.
  2. Identify what forward contracts are and how forward points are calculated.
  3. Recognize the payoff profile, economics and accounting of forward contracts.
  4. Explore why forward contracts are the most used FX derivative by corporations.
Who Should Attend?

New and seasoned finance, accounting, treasury, and related professionals (CPA, CIA, CRMA, CFE, etc.) interested in international business.

Simulating FX Hedging Strategies

To become proficient in any skill, including currency risk management, practice makes perfect. To help companies practice in 2021, FX Initiative’s Foreign Exchange Transaction Simulator addresses a wide variety of FX scenarios by stress-testing hypothetical FX hedging strategies.

This interactive risk modeling tool illustrates the economics and accounting of the most common hedging strategies for underlying foreign exchange exposures such as revenues, expenses, receivables, and payables. You can simply input your company specific and foreign exchange market variables, and then select your hedging strategy, which includes not hedging or hedging with a forward contract, vanilla option or zero cost collar.

The resulting output is a highly detailed interactive FX risk analysis that charts the economic payoff of your selected hedging strategy, ranks the alternative hedging strategies, and reports the accounting journal entries and t-accounts with authoritative references to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Behind the scenes, our robust pricing engine and database simplifies the risk analysis process for you so you can focus on the bottom line impact to your business.

This versatile tool transforms 16 inputs into one information rich analysis in 3 easy steps.

  • Step 1 is to select (1) the Underlying Exposure and input the related variables of (2) Functional Currency, (3) Foreign Currency, (4) Underlying Notional Amount, (5) Beginning Exchange Rate, (6) Currency Quoting Convention, (7) Start Date, (8) End Date and (9) the Day Count.
  • Step 2 is to select a (10) Hedging Strategy and input the related variables of (11) Hedge Ratio %, (12) Domestic Interest Rate, (13) Foreign Interest Rate, (14) Implied Volatility, and (15) the Collar Range.
  • Step 3 is to forecast (16) the ending exchange rate to see how positive and negative changes in exchange rates impact the cash flow and financial reporting of your selected hedging strategy.

This FX risk management web application customizes strategies and can be modified efficiently and effectively. For example, if you want to change your underlying exposure or hedge strategy, it’s as simple as one-click. If you want to know which strategy yields the best outcome, all 4 strategies are ranked for you automatically. If you want to see how the default or elective accounting treatment differ, the journal entries and t-accounts are instantly presented side-by-side. This Foreign Exchange Transaction Simulator acts as your own personal quantitative analyst, and puts you in a positions to make a qualified foreign exchange risk management decisions.

To begin practicing hypothetical FX hedging, start your FX risk management training today, which provides 24/7 365 access to our complete suite of foreign exchange (FX) continuing professional education (CPE), examples & events at FXCPE.com.

CPE Webinar Invite: FX Risk Management Policies

Program Overview

FX Initiative cordially invites you to attend our webinar titled “FX Risk Management Policies” on Thursday, February 11th, 2021 at 11AM Pacific / 2PM Eastern. Join us for a continuing professional education (CPE) program and earn CPE credit as we learn how to draft a corporate foreign exchange risk management policy. This FX Risk Policy webinar will address the basics for drafting a foreign exchange risk management policy. We begin with best practice policies for pricing and booking foreign exchange (FX) transactions that enable a corporation to retain the FX risk rather than the customer, supplier or vendor. We then discuss how FX personnel, resources and operations are incorporated into a policy document that serves as a guideline for managing foreign exchange risk. Furthermore, we will cover the essential elements of a formal written FX risk management policy, including which FX exposures to hedge, how to handle counterparty credit risk, segregation of duties (SOD), internal controls, and reporting among other areas. Lastly, we will observe how FX risk policy language is disclosed in corporate annual reports (10-K) using the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings of multinational corporations as real-world examples.

Learning Objectives
  1. Discover best practice policies for pricing and booking foreign exchange (FX) transactions.
  2. Recognize how to incorporate FX personnel, resources, and operations into a policy document.
  3. Identify the essential elements of a formal written corporate FX risk management policy.
  4. Explore how FX risk policy language is disclosed in corporate annual reports (10-K).
Who Should Attend?

New and seasoned finance, accounting, treasury, and related professionals (CPA, CIA, CRMA, CFE, etc.) interested in international business.

February 2021 Newsletter

February FX Education: Read our newsletter and discover the latest blog posts and insights from FX Initiative on currency risk management. We help finance, accounting, and treasury professionals stay up to date with training content, CPE webinars, and helpful resources.

Scale the learning curve quickly and easily with our foreign exchange risk management training, which provides 24/7 365 access to our complete suite of foreign exchange (FX) continuing professional education (CPE), examples and events at FXCPE.com. Start Training >