Related Posts

• Talking Tax Reform, Repatriation & $2.6 Trillion Overseas

  Talk of tax repatriation holidays and foreign profits held overseas often accompany the conversation of corporate tax reform. Currently, congress is working with politicians and business leaders to make a plan by year-end. While there is widespread agreement that tax avoidance strategies employed by multinational corporations are a growing problem, there is considerable disagreement in congress over how to solve this problem. Therefore, this article will examine the vast sums of foreign profits currently held by American corporations overseas, the effect of the last U.S. tax repatriation holiday in 2004, and the conflicting objectives between businesses and government over the highest and best use of funds. In March of 2017, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) reported that 322 of Fortune 500 companies collectively held a record $2.6 trillion offshore. It is well documented that the business decision to keep foreign profits overseas is driven by tax avoidance strategies, with the goal of minimizing a firm’s tax liability. As it stands today, companies that repatriate foreign profits do so at a 35 percent U.S. tax rate (minus a ...
• Grasping Groupon’s Passive FX Risk Management

  FX Initiative analyzes how publicly traded companies manage foreign exchange risk. This analysis will focus on Groupon, a Chicago based worldwide e-commerce marketplace, and their passive approach to FX risk management. Using their 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2017, let’s explore Groupon’s International segment and its FX impact on their Income Statement. The Income Statement shows a company’s revenues and expenses during a particular period. The Income Statement in simplest terms totals revenues and subtracts expenses to find the bottom line or net income for the period. Using Groupon’s reported numbers from their Securities and Exchange filing, their International segment’s Income Statement is as follows: Source: http://investor.groupon.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1490281-17-111 The words "foreign exchange", "foreign currency", and "FX" are mentioned 12 times in their earnings announcement, yet Groupon (unlike leading technology companies such as Apple and Google) is not managing their foreign exchange risk at all. Let’s examine Groupon’s FX risk profile by digging into their revenue, expense, and gross profit figures. Revenues - Groupon’s revenue increased $27 million in their International segment, but declined $13.8 million due to changes in foreign exchange rates. In other ...
• Comparing Cryptocurrency to Foreign Currency

  Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have captured headlines in 2017, and the question of how modern cryptocurrencies compare to traditional foreign currencies is often raised. FX Initiative helps global businesses manage foreign exchange (FX) risk, and this article will explore some of the key differences between cryptocurrency and foreign currency from a corporate foreign exchange risk management perspective. It is clear that cryptocurrencies are still in their infancy, but the debate in the financial community over the future growth of this digital asset class remains open. While many articles have focused on areas such as monetary authorities, regulation, costs, timing, and transparency, this article will offer a unique focus specifically on the areas of acceptance, exchange, utilization, obsolescence, and risk management. Acceptance A small but growing number of brand name companies promote their acceptance of Bitcoin, such as Overstock.com, DISH Network, Expedia, Microsoft, and others. In fact, Coinbase claims that 47,000 businesses integrate Bitcoin with their service. However, companies such as Dell and Fiverr announced their acceptance of Bitcoin in 2014 but have since updated their policies to no longer accept Bitcoin. As ...
• How to Price Cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) Derivatives?

  Bitcoin (BTC) broke through to a record high of $11,831 over the weekend as volatility in the cryptocurrency continues to rise. Amidst these large and recent price fluctuations, the CME Group (Chicago Mercantile Exchange & Chicago Board of Trade) announced that its new bitcoin futures contract will be available for trading on December 18, 2017. While the valuation of traditional currency and equity derivatives is well established among professionals working in the financial industry, the introduction of the first cryptocurrency bitcoin derivative poses valuation questions as it relates to a new pricing model. Simply put, how are cryptocurrency derivatives priced? Financial engineering is a continuously evolving discipline designed to introduce and test new products, pricing models and hypotheses. Currently, equity futures are typically priced using variables such and the risk free interest rate and dividends, and currency forwards are priced based on the foreign and domestic interest rate differential between the two currencies in the pair. Additionally, equity options are typically priced using the Black–Scholes option pricing model, and currency options are priced using the Garman–Kohlhagen option pricing model. All ...
• Download the PDF Brochure to learn about FX Initiative!

  Are you curious how FX Initiative can help you with currency risk management? Download the PDF brochure and learn why Fortune 500 companies, small and medium sized enterprises (SME), and sales teams of financial institutions trust FX Initiative to learn foreign exchange best practices. For over a decade, we’ve been training Fortune 500 companies, global businesses, treasury professionals, and FX sales teams on foreign exchange risk management best practices. While all client’s had different objectives and challenges, all benefited from the unparalleled foreign exchange (FX) and continuing professional education (CPE) resources FX Initiative’s currency risk management training provides created by industry expert & trainer Evan Mahoney, CPA. Whether you’re new to foreign exchange or a seasoned professional, your questions will be answered, your challenges will be addressed, and you will leave with an actionable plan for managing currency risk. Download the PDF Brochure   Self-Study currency risk management training with Evan Mahoney is the gold standard for meeting your organization’s professional development needs. Live webinar sessions that are fully customized can be added to enhance your learning experience and address and solve company ...
• How Brexit Impacts the FX Bottom Line

  Many have read about Brexit in the news headlines, which is a term that refers to the United Kingdom's planned withdrawal from the European Union (EU). Since the EU referendum took place in June of 2016, the British pound sterling (GBP) has declined in value against the U.S. dollar (USD) by roughly 15% from June 24, 2016 levels which hovered around the 1.4500 mark to approximately 1.2500 levels as of April 17, 2017. In less than a year, many companies with foreign currency exposure to the British pound sterling have seen a serious impact to the bottom line of the income statement. Looking at this political event from a foreign exchange risk management perspective, Brexit would fall under the category of foreign exchange economic risk that is covered in FX Initiative’s FX Risk Exposures course. Economic risk relates to the macro impact fluctuating foreign exchange rates have on business opportunities, and includes the risk associated with the political, economic, and regulatory environment of the country or region in which a firm is conducting business. The following 3 minute video clip from ...