Exploring FX Economic Risk

Exploring FX Economic Risk (Video): Explore the concept of foreign exchange (FX) economic risk and recognize its macro impact on the financial statements and global business opportunities. This video is a preview of FX Initiative’s FX Risk Exposures course as part of Learning Objective #1.

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.

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Discover the Details of FX Hedge Documentation

When accounting for FX derivatives, firms have a choice between the “default” and “elective” accounting treatment. Elective accounting treatment is not required and involves extra preparation and utilization of resources, but for forecasted transactions and hedges of net investments in foreign operations, the benefits can outweigh the costs particularly for publicly traded firms most concerned with mitigating periodic earnings volatility.

The “elective” accounting treatment permits special accounting for items designated as being hedged and offers 2 main financial reporting benefits; Timing & Geography: (1) timing refers to reducing periodic earnings volatility by deferring derivative mark-to-market gains and losses in equity and (2) geography refers to accounting for the derivative gain or loss in the same geographic area of the financial statements as the hedged exposure.

It is important to emphasize that elective hedge accounting never changes the economics of a hedge, only the financial reporting. The choice of whether or not to use “elective” accounting treatment will depend on the foreign exchange risk management objectives of each organization, and part of the strategic decision making process involves determining if the financial reporting benefits outweigh the administrative and compliance costs.

To satisfy the requirement for elective accounting treatment, companies must prepare formal contemporaneous hedge documentation at the inception of the hedge. The hedge documentation outlines the hedging relationship, and the entity's risk management objective and strategy for undertaking the hedge, including identification of following 5 components:

1. The hedging instrument
2. The hedged item or transaction
3. The nature of the risk being hedged
4. The method that will be used to retrospectively and prospectively assess the hedging instrument's effectiveness
5. The method that will be used to measure ineffectiveness

Effectiveness is an assessment of the degree by which the derivative offsets the hedged transactions changes in cash flows that are attributable to foreign exchange risk. While hedge documentation and effectiveness testing can range significantly in detail and complexity, two simplified examples of hedge documentation are addressed in FX Initiative’s currency risk management training.

Our Hedging FX Transactions and Hedging Foreign Subsidiaries courses walk you through real world scenarios using Apple, Inc. as an example, and show you the required documentation as well as the timing and geography benefits using our FX Transaction Simulator and Foreign Subsidiary Consolidator. Hedging documentation can be daunting, but our training makes preparation practical so you can achieve for your foreign exchange risk management goals.

Are you interested in discovering the details of FX hedge documentation? Take the FX Initiative by subscribing today!

Cheers,

The FX Initiative Team
support@fxinitiative.com

Start Learning the ABC’s of FX Risk Management

When it comes to Foreign Exchange Risk Management, finance, accounting and treasury professionals often find themselves dealing with a wide range of complex cash flow and financial reporting issues. In order to provide more sophisticated solutions to complicated problems, it is essential to first build a foundation of knowledge to use as a framework to make decisions. FX Initiative’s currency risk management training helps you learn “The ABC’s of FX” starting with the most basic concepts to help you scale the learning curve and effectively manage FX risk for your business.

Global companies face questions of how to manage currency risk? How to draft a FX risk policy? Where to look for FX risk exposures? What currency risks to hedge and how? Which strategies meet FX hedge objectives? What are the economics? How to do FX accounting?

FX Initiative's foreign exchange risk management training addresses all of these questions with our online video series about:

1. Foreign Exchange (FX) Market Overview
2. FX Risk Exposures
3. FX Risk Management
4. FX Spot & Derivatives
5. Hedging FX Transactions
6. Hedging Foreign Subsidiaries

Then, you can review and test with quizzes and CPE exams. And reinforce learning using real examples with our:

• Currency Code Locator
• FX Risk Policy Drafter
• FX Derivative Speculator
• FX Transaction Simulator
• FX Subsidiary Consolidator

FX Initiative training is available 24/7 365 to help you with FX risk policies, FX accounting, FX hedging strategies, and FX risk management.

Are you ready to manage FX risk?  Take the FX Initiative by subscribing today!

If you are ready to deliver better results to the bottom line, become a FX Initiative subscriber today and access our complete suite of foreign exchange (FX) continuing professional education (CPE), examples and events at FXCPE.com. Managing FX risk has become a higher priority for many firms recently, and it is now easier than ever to learn the fundamentals of currency risk management. Take the FX Initiative for your international business today!

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Cheers,

The FX Initiative Team
support@fxinitiative.com