The main focus of the paper is the problem of exchange-rate exposure of Swedish firms between Jan, 1st 2002 and Sep, 27th 2006. Defined as “a measure of the potential for a firm’s profitability, net cash flow, market value to change because of a change in exchange rates”, the problem of exchange rate exposure is investigated, making use of the “Market Value Approach” (also known as “Stock Market Ap-proach”), with certain additional extensions. With Sweden being a very open economy with strong export orientation, we expected to find a greater number of firms showing significant ex-change rate exposure to one or more of the chosen 6 bilateral exchange rates (SEK/EUR, SEK/USD, SEK/DKK, SEK/NOK, SEK/GBP and SEK/JPY). Also, companies are divided into categories with respect to their main operating activity. The empirical study finds 78% of all companies in the sample with significant exposure, with dominance of lagged effect over con-temporaneous. This percentage is higher than found in previous empirical studies, being in sup-port of the suggestion that relation exists between economy openness and exchange rate expo-sure of firms. However, the significant cross-section differences across categories and the high level of heterogeneity within categories deter us from determining the sign, direction and magni-tude of the exchange rate exposure. Suggestions are made for further studies and possible exten-sions of the topic of the present paper.

<p>This dissertation is a collection of papers with the unifying objective being to better understand crash risk in foreign exchange markets. I investigate how exposure to the risk of currency crashes is able to provide a unified rationalization of the returns of various sorted currency portfolios.</p><p>In the first chapter, I identify an aggregate global currency skewness risk factor, which I denote SKEW. Currency portfolios that have higher average excess returns covary more positively with this risk factor. They suffer losses in times when high interest rate investment currencies have a greater tendency to depreciate sharply as a group relative to low interest rate funding currencies. Consequently, they earn higher average excess returns as reward for exposure to this risk. I create three sets of sorted currency portfolios reflecting three distinct sources of variation in average excess currency returns. The first set sorts currencies based on interest rate differentials. The second set sorts currencies based on currency momentum. The third set sorts currencies based on currency undervaluedness relative to purchasing power power parity (PPP) implied exchange rates. I find that differences in exposure to the global currency skewness risk factor can explain the systematic variation in average excess currency returns within all three groups of portfolios much better than existing foreign exchange risk factors in the literature.</p><p>In the second chapter, I build on the first chapter by studying the extent to which currency crash risk is predictable or unpredictable and whether the pricing power of aggregate currency skewness, uncovered in the first chapter, is due to unpredictable or predictable crash risk. Focusing on currency crash risk proxied using realized currency skewness at both the individual currency level and at the aggregate level using the SKEW risk factor introduced in the first chapter, I investigate whether either form of crash risk is predictable using only past information about crash risk. In particular, I use past information on both individual currency level and aggregate level measures based on both lagged realized currency skewness and lagged option implied risk neutral skewness. I find evidence that there is not much predictability at the individual country level or at the aggregate level over the full sample period considered. However, there is some evidence of predictability at the aggregate level since 1999, and especially so when option implied risk neutral skewness measures are used. Additionally, I use the predictions of SKEW and conduct asset pricing similar to that in chapter 1 using predicted and unpredicted SKEW to see whether its pricing power comes from predictable or unpredictable components. I find evidence that it is unpredictable currency crash risk that is very important, as the asset pricing results are largely identical when either SKEW or SKEW forecast errors are used. and whether the pricing power of</p> / Dissertation

<p>The main focus of the paper is the problem of exchange-rate exposure of Swedish firms between Jan, 1st 2002 and Sep, 27th 2006. Defined as “a measure of the potential for a firm’s profitability, net cash flow, market value to change because of a change in exchange rates”, the problem of exchange rate exposure is investigated, making use of the “Market Value Approach” (also known as “Stock Market Ap-proach”), with certain additional extensions. With Sweden being a very open economy with strong export orientation, we expected to find a greater number of firms showing significant ex-change rate exposure to one or more of the chosen 6 bilateral exchange rates (SEK/EUR, SEK/USD, SEK/DKK, SEK/NOK, SEK/GBP and SEK/JPY). Also, companies are divided into categories with respect to their main operating activity. The empirical study finds 78% of all companies in the sample with significant exposure, with dominance of lagged effect over con-temporaneous. This percentage is higher than found in previous empirical studies, being in sup-port of the suggestion that relation exists between economy openness and exchange rate expo-sure of firms. However, the significant cross-section differences across categories and the high level of heterogeneity within categories deter us from determining the sign, direction and magni-tude of the exchange rate exposure. Suggestions are made for further studies and possible exten-sions of the topic of the present paper.</p>

Recently, both company executives as well as national media have claimed that short currency exchange rate fluctuations are negatively affecting the stock returns of certain firms. However, most previous studies focusing on companies in the US and Asia have been unable to find empirical support for a statistically significant linkage between firm value and exchange rate risk. By using a quantitative method with a deductive approach,the present research investigates if currency exchange rate movements impact the stock return of European based car companies with market interests in the US. By selecting French Renault and Peugeot, German Audi and BMW and Swedish Saab and Volvo, we were able to analyze three currencies exchange rates in our study: SEK/USD, SEK/Euro and Euro/USD. In addition, we included three macroeconomic factors: GDP, stock market index and Oil price to perform a multiple regression analysis. In consistency with the earlier studies, our results indicate that for five out of the six investigated companies, short movements in the three exchange rates do not significantly affect the stock returns of the companies investigated. By analyzing the annual report of the investigated companies, we found that derivatives instruments such as currency option, foreign exchange forwards, currency futures and currency swaps were used to hedge exchange risk. This might be one of the reasons why it was difficult to capture exchange rate risk. The fact that BMW was the only company showing a significant effect could indicate that the company is not applying the accurate hedging strategy. Another reason might be that the company is more exposed to exchange risk due to its large exporting activity compared to the other investigated companies.

This diploma thesis deals with the issue of financial derivatives, their reporting, classification, accounting point of view and use on the example of a particular entity. The theoretical part summarizes the general theoretical knowledge about the given issue. The main goal of this thesis is to evaluate possibilities of using financial derivatives from the accounting and financial perspective of company named Schäfer Sudex s.r.o. This enterprise produces food containers made of stainless steel. The analysis of receivables and payables shows that the enterprise should ensure against the possible decline in value of foreign receivables as result of exchange rate variability. This thesis presents suggestions for securing receivables. Based on results, recommended solutions were created. Company should secure value of their receivables by using forward. Based at conservative exchange rate development, profit would be 4 mil CZK. But at aggressive change, earnings would exceed 18,7 mil CZK.

Neste estudo, é testada empiricamente a hipótese de eficiência no mercado a termo de câmbio brasileiro, para o período recente de flutuação cambial. A freqüência dos dados é diária, e as taxas a termo são construídas com base no mercado de swaps. É utilizado um método de estimação semi-paramétrico e estatisticamente robusto no contexto de distribuições com caudas pesadas. Este método ainda permite que se trabalhe com séries não-estacionárias no nível (sem diferenciar) e com observações sobrepostas (quando o prazo do contrato a termo excede o intervalo entre as observações da amostra). A hipótese de eficiência é rejeitada quando se usa o método robusto; por outro lado, um método mais sensível à presença de outliers falha em rejeitar a hipótese. Por fim, são discutidas algumas questões relativas à hipótese de eficiência, com especial ênfase para a questão de se a rejeição da hipótese é devida à presença de um prêmio de risco cambial, da ineficiência de mercado ou de ambos os fatores. Os resultados sugerem que o mercado de câmbio a termo no Brasil não é eficiente. / In this dissertation, the forward exchange market efficiency hypothesis is tested for the recent floating regime in Brazil. We use daily frequency data, with implied forward rates based on the swap market. The statistical approach is a semiparametric procedure which is statistically robust to data distributions with heavy tails and allows for non-stationarity of the data and overlapping observations (when the interval between observations is shorter than the futures maturity). The efficiency hypothesis is rejected when the robust procedure is used; still, a distinct procedure more sensible to the presence of outliers fails to reject the hypothesis. At last, we discuss some issues regarding the efficiency hypothesis, emphasizing the question of whether the rejection of the efficiency hypothesis denounces the presence of a risk premium, of market inefficiency or both. The results suggest the Brazilian forward exchange market is not efficient.

The aim of this Diploma thesis is to describe and explain how to identify, quantify and eliminate negative effects of exchange rate fluctuation. Both internal and external methods of hedging are considered. A recommendation of an appropriate complex hedging strategy relating to a specific Czech technological company forms the second part of the thesis. This provides a guidance to practical use of the theoretical relations described in the first part.

Globalization is a fact in a lot of businesses today, something that is also relevant in the real estate industry. The currency differs depending on where investments are made and as a result of this real estate investors also face currency risks in addition to all other real estate related risks they already need to manage. The management of currency risk can have different forms, and the purpose of this thesis is to find out how, if and why real estate investors, especially Swedish, hedge this risk. To create an understanding of the issue, a summary of some theories on the currency market and real estate market can be found in the thesis. Only a small amount of research exists on the subject in Sweden and the theories are mainly from foreign studies and the currency risk management from other business sectors. These theories, combined with the research questions, have formed the questions for the interviews this study is made of. Debt in the local currency of where the investment is made can be seen as a natural hedge for the currency risk. Reduced loan-to-value (LTV) ratios from banks for real estate investments have led to a situation where loans, which can cannot be used to the same extent. That makes it more interesting to find out which other instruments are being used to avoid the currency risk and if the real estate investors wants to avoid it at all. The purpose of this thesis is to find the answers to these questions. The interviewed consultancy firms and banks as well as the investors themselves state that the currency risk is a risk that should not occur in Swedish real estate investments on markets with a different currency. The reason for this is that the real estate assets should be the primary focus of the business. To hedge this risk, bank loans and currency futures are the most frequently used instruments by Swedish real estate investors. / Globalization is a fact in a lot of businesses today, something that is also relevant in the real estate industry. The currency differs depending on where investments are made and as a result of this real estate investors also face currency risks in addition to all other real estate related risks they already need to manage. The management of currency risk can have different forms, and the purpose of this thesis is to find out how, if and why real estate investors, especially Swedish, hedge this risk. To create an understanding of the issue, a summary of some theories on the currency market and real estate market can be found in the thesis. Only a small amount of research exists on the subject in Sweden and the theories are mainly from foreign studies and the currency risk management from other business sectors. These theories, combined with the research questions, have formed the questions for the interviews this study is made of. Debt in the local currency of where the investment is made can be seen as a natural hedge for the currency risk. Reduced loan-to-value (LTV) ratios from banks for real estate investments have led to a situation where loans, which can cannot be used to the same extent. That makes it more interesting to find out which other instruments are being used to avoid the currency risk and if the real estate investors wants to avoid it at all. The purpose of this thesis is to find the answers to these questions. The interviewed consultancy firms and banks as well as the investors themselves state that the currency risk is a risk that should not occur in Swedish real estate investments on markets with a different currency. The reason for this is that the real estate assets should be the primary focus of the business. To hedge this risk, bank loans and currency futures are the most frequently used instruments by Swedish real estate investors.

Master's Thesis deals with currency risk influence on particular bussiness company. The target is based on suggestion of particular measures for risk hedging. Information is gained directly from accounting and from the author's knowledge about the company. Influence of risk is studied primarily separately in relation with gross frofit a nd then in relation with net profit of the firm. Suggestions for currency risk hedging come from the requirements of shareholders, who expect the maximal elimination of the currency risks. For currency risk management were proposed two variants: currency swap and Bull Spread option strategy, which were then theoreticaly rated.

Thesis "The use of currency futures in the business in terms of CR" deals with financial derivatives. Defines the various types of derivatives, their history and development of currency futures and forward contracts in the CR and in the world. Another part is devoted to the use of currency futures and forwards in the business in the Czech Republic. The thesis is to evaluate the evolution of exchange rates EUR/CZK and USD/CZK.