Highlighting FX Hedge Objectives Highlighting FX Hedge Objectives (Video): Discover how public and private companies prioritize earnings and cash flows when hedging foreign exchange (FX) risk. This video is a preview of FX Initiative’s Hedging FX Transactions 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. Start FX Training August 10, 2021By FX Initiative FX Risk Management, General, Hedging Foreign Subsidiaries, Hedging FX Transactions accounting, cashflow, corporate, currency, derivatives, earnings, economics, education, events, examples, exercises, finance, forex, fxcpe, fxinitiative, goals, hedge, learning, management, objectives, plans, policy, priorities, private, procedures, public, risk, simulations, training, treasury 0 0 Comment
FX Net Investment Hedging Nuances Would you like to know the nuances of FX net investment hedging? FX Initiative’s FX Net Investment Hedging webinar explores how multinational corporations can hedge assets and equity in foreign subsidiaries, and demonstrates the importance of formally designating derivatives as net investment hedges for accounting purposes to benefit from reporting FX gains and losses in equity on the balance sheet. Get started 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 > Download the PDF April 23, 2019By FX Initiative Hedging Foreign Subsidiaries, Webinar accounting, ASC815, asset, consolidation, CTA, currency, defer, derivative, education, equity, financial, foreign, forex, fxcpe, fxinitiative, gains, hedge, learning, losses, management, net, operations, reporting, risk, subsidiaries, traning, translation 0 0 Comment
FX Strategies for Foreign Subsidiaries Would you like to optimize FX strategies for foreign subsidiaries? FX Initiative’s Hedging Foreign Subsidiaries course outlines the fundamentals of hedging net income and net investment exposures in foreign subsidiaries, and reveals the cash flow and financial reporting implications of hedging FX translation risk with currency derivatives. Get started 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 > Download the PDF March 12, 2019By FX Initiative General, Hedging Foreign Subsidiaries bestpractices, consolidation, cpe, currency, derivatives, dividends, earnings, education, equity, foreign, forex, functional, fxcpe, fxinitiative, hedge, investment, learning, management, profits, repatriation, risk, strategy, subsidiary, TCJA, training, translation 0 0 Comment
Attend the Net Investment Hedging webinar! You're invited to the Net Investment Hedging webinar! Thursday, November 15th | 2PM Eastern | 1 CPE Credit Program Overview Join us for a live webinar and learn how to hedge assets & equity in foreign subsidiaries operating abroad. This 1-hour session covers 4 key learning objectives: Discover the concept of a foreign exchange (FX) net investment hedge. Recognize the accounting and cash flow implications of hedging subsidiaries. Identify the top reasons why some corporations employ net investment hedges. Explore how forward contracts can be used to hedge equity in foreign operations. Who Should Attend New and seasoned finance, accounting, treasury, and related professionals (CPA, CIA, CRMA, CFE, etc.) interested in international business. Join Us November 8, 2018By FX Initiative Hedging Foreign Subsidiaries, Webinar ASC 815, ASC 830, Assets, Continuing Professional Education, Corporation, CPE, Currency, Equity, FAS 133, FAS 52, Foreign Exchange, Forex, FX Traning, Hedging, Management, Multinational, Net Investment, Risk, Subsidiary 0 0 Comment
Identify the Top Two FX Hedge Objectives Companies that hedge foreign exchange must establish clear objectives in order to gauge the efficacy of their FX risk management program. While the priority of hedge objectives can vary between public and private companies, the same two overarching goals apply: (1) minimizing earnings volatility and (2) preserving cash flows. Gaining a better understanding of these two objectives can help organizations better decide how to allocate resources to achieve their desired economic and accounting results. First, minimizing earnings volatility means neutralizing to the greatest extent possible the Income Statement impact of fluctuating foreign exchange rates. At the highest level, this requires aligning the accounting treatment for the derivative with the accounting treatment for the underlying exposure to achieve equal and offsetting gains and losses at the same time and in the same geographic area of the financial statements. When hedging forecasted transactions that do not impact the Income Statement on a current basis, minimizing earning volatility often involves the use of elective “cash flow” hedge accounting treatment, which provides the timing benefit of deferring derivative mark-to-market gains and losses in equity during the forecast period and the geography benefit of accounting for the derivative gain or loss in the same financial statement line item as the forecasted exposure. When hedging booked transactions that do impact the Income Statement on a current basis, neutralizing earning volatility refers to using the "default" accounting treatment, whereby the highly visible foreign exchange gains and losses related to the underlying exposure and the derivative hedging instrument work in tandem to create a largely equal offset in earnings that mitigates Income Statement volatility automatically at the end of each reporting period. When hedging net investments in foreign subsidiaries that are accounted for in equity, reducing earning volatility means using elective "net investment" hedge accounting treatment, which allows for derivative gains and losses to be recorded in other comprehensive income (OCI), which is a component of equity, as part of the cumulative translation adjustment (CTA) until the point in time that a sale or liquidation event of the net investment occurs. Second, preserving cash flows means reducing the variability in functional currency equivalent cash flows resulting from foreign currency transactions. When hedging booked and forecasted transactions, this means hedging to stabilize the amount of cash received or paid upon conversion of the foreign currency at a later date. When hedging net investments in foreign subsidiaries, preserving cash flows can involve a variety of strategies depending on the short and long term goals of the organization. For example, 3 different cash flow strategies include, (1) hedging excess cash balances that are held by foreign subsidiaries and that may eventually be remitted back to the parent, (2) hedging the value of a net investment position to preserve cash flows related to an anticipated sale or liquidation event of the foreign operation in the short or medium term, or (3) not hedging the position in a long term foreign subsidiary that may require cash settlement upon expiration of the derivative instrument. While these concepts can get quite technical in detail, the overarching theme is that both public and private companies are focusing on the same two foreign exchange risk management hedging objectives: (1) minimizing earning volatility and (2) preserving cash flows. Public companies are often most concerned with mitigating periodic earnings volatility, which suggests they prioritize goal number 1 of minimizing earnings volatility over preserving cash flows. In contrast, private companies are usually more concerned about the economics over the accounting implications, which implies they focus more on preserving cash flows first and foremost. The key highlight is that public and private companies usually have different priorities between the same two FX hedge objectives. To learn how your organization can prioritize and achieve your company’s specific hedging objectives, sign up for FX Initiative's currency risk management training to start learning best practices. We offer a complete continuing professional education (CPE) curriculum for controlling currency risk consisting of on-demand educational videos, interactive real-world examples, and live webinar events that can be customized to your organization’s particular needs. Take the FX Initiative today to learn how we help both Fortune 500 companies and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) understand, identify, assess and mitigate foreign exchange risk. Ready to achieve your FX Risk Management objectives? Click here to get started > The FX Initiative Team support@fxinitiative.com February 12, 2018By FX Initiative General, Hedging Foreign Subsidiaries, Hedging FX Transactions , Cash Flow, Continuing Professional Education, CPE, Earnings, FX, Goals, Hedging, Income Statement, Management, Objectives, Private, Public, Risk, Foreign Exchange 0 0 Comment
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: The hedging instrument The hedged item or transaction The nature of the risk being hedged The method that will be used to retrospectively and prospectively assess the hedging instrument's effectiveness 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 July 31, 2017By FX Initiative FX Transaction Simulator, General, Hedging Foreign Subsidiaries, Hedging FX Transactions , Accounting, ASC 815, ASC 830, Benefits, Best Practices, Derivative, Documentation, FAS 133, FAS 52, FASB, Financial Reporting, Foreign Exchange, Geography, Hedge, Management, Private, Public, Risk, Timing, FX 0 0 Comment
Learn How To Simplify Foreign Subsidiary FX Strategies Foreign exchange (FX) translation risk applies to companies with foreign currency functional subsidiaries operating abroad. Unlike FX transaction risk, which is commonly hedged, FX translation risk tends to take a more strategic approach to currency risk management, and companies must decide if, when and how to hedge this type of foreign exchange risk. Translation exposure exists as a result of translating local currency functional financial statements (i.e. the Income Statement and Balance Sheet) into the reporting currency of the parent for consolidation purposes. This process creates foreign exchange translation risk in the form of net income (income statement) and net investment (balance sheet) exposures. The following 5 minute introduction video for FX Initiative’s “Hedging Foreign Subsidiaries” course outlines the two main learning objectives covered, which include: (1) to explore the concept of hedging net income generated at foreign subsidiaries, and recognize the accounting, forecasting, and cash flow challenges associated with hedging future earnings, and (2) to explore the concept of hedging net investments in foreign subsidiaries, and recognize how "elective" accounting treatment can mitigate earnings volatility and better align the financial reporting of a hedge. Want full access? Click to subscribe today! If you are interested in learning more about best practices for hedging foreign subsidiaries, sign up for our Foreign Exchange Risk Management Training 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 for 2017 and it is now easier than ever to learn the fundamentals of currency risk management. Make this the year to reduce FX risk and reap rewards abroad by taking the FX Initiative for your international business today! Click here to start your FX Risk Management Training today! Cheers to your global organization's continued success in the new year, The FX Initiative Team support@fxinitiative.com March 27, 2017By FX Initiative Hedging Foreign Subsidiaries , Balance Sheet, Best Practices, Continuing Professional Education, CPE, Currency, Exchange, Hedge, Income Statement, Management, Risk, Subsidiaries, Foreign 0 0 Comment