C. Financial risks Flashcards
what is financial risk?
a risk of a change in a financial condition such as:
- an exchange rate
- interest rate
- credit rating of a customer
- price of a good
what is political risk?
risk faced by an overseas investor, that the host country government take adverse action against after the company, has invested
political risk is essentially to do with the wider risks of foreign direct investment
is political risk a financial risk?
not necessarily a financial risk but included as financial risk is often from the perspective of foreign business activities
what are some examples of political risk?
- quotas
- tariffs
- import duties
- laws requiring a minimum % of local workers and suppliers
- restrictions on repatriating cash (dividends or capital)
- confiscating overseas assets
what are exchange control regulation?
generally more restrictive in less developed countries
- rationing the supply of foreign currencies which restricts residents from buying goods abroad
- banning the payment of dividends to foreign shareholders such as holding companies in multinationals, who will then have the problem of blocked funds
what are import quotas?
limit the quantity of goods that subsidiaries can buy from its holding company to sell in its domestic market
what are import tariffs?
make imports (from the holding company) more expensive than domestically produced goods
what is insisting on a minimum shareholding?
some equity in the company is offered to resident investors
what is company structure?
may be dictated by the host government
requiring all investors to be in the form of joint ventures with host country companies
what are some restrictive exchange control regulation?
import quotas
import tariffs
insist on a minimum shareholding
company structure
what are some discriminatory actions?
supertaxes
restricted access to local borrowings
expropriating assets
what are supertaxes?
imposed on foreign firms, set higher than those imposed on local businesses with the aim of giving local firms an advantage
they may even be deliberately set at such a high level as to prevent the business from being profitable
what is expropriating assets?
host country government seizes foreign property in the national interest
recognised in international law as the right of sovereign states provided that prompt consideration at fair market value in a convertible currency is given
what are the issues with expropriating assets?
problems arise over the exact meaning of the terms prompt and fair, the choice of currency, and the action available to a company not happy with the compensation offered
what is hedging?
a way of using financial instruments to REDUCE THE RISK of adverse price movements of an item (this could be a commodity price, share price, interest rate or currency exchange rate)
can help companies to ‘fix’ the price of something they plan to buy or sell in the future, this reduces the financial risk
what are the benefits of hedging?
- CERTAINTY of cash flows
- RISK will be reduced
- reduction in probability of FINANCIAL COLLAPSE
- may be perceived to be a MORE ATTRACTIVE employer to risk-averse managers
- may reduce TAXES
what are the arguments against hedging?
- may harm interest of shareholders with DIVERSIFIED portfolios
- significant transaction costs
- LACK OF EXPERTISE within the business
- COMPLEXITY of accounting within the business
- for some risks, gains and losses may CANCEL OUT INT THE LONG RUN
what is a derivative?
a financial instrument whose value depends on a the price of some other financial asset or underlying factor (such as oil, gold, interest rates or currencies)
can be used for hedging, speculation and/or arbitrage
how can political risk be managed?
- RESEARCHING he country’s current and historic political and economic stability
- entering into foreign joint ventures/part-ownership by foreign country’s investors
- obtaining agreements and contracts with overseas government
- using local financing
- making use of local suppliers and the local workforce
how can political risk be minimised?
- prior negotiation
- structuring investment
- entering into foreign joint ventures
- obtaining agreements and contracts with overseas government
- using local financing
- plans for eventual ownership/part-ownership by foreign country’s investors
why does a joint venture reduce risk?
- if each partner contributes a share of the funding for the venture, the investment at risk for each partner is restricted to their share of the total investment (although, the upside is reduced because each party has less invested in this potentially lucrative venture)
- if a local company is selected as the JV partner, the likelihood of winning major contracts in the country might be much greater. Some governments have made the involvement of a local company in a JV a condition of awarding contracts to foreign companies
- the local venture partner has a better understanding of the local political risks and can manage them more effectively than a foreigner would be able to. Also the govt might be less inclined to act against the interest of the local venture partner
what are pre trading agreements?
prior to making the investment, agreements should be secured if possible with the local government regarding rights, remittance of funds and local equity investments and (where appropriate) the award of government contracts to businesses
what is the major advantage of local finance?
it creates liabilities in the foreign currency and so reduces:
- translation exposures: assets in the foreign currency can be offset against liabilities in the same currency
- transaction exposures: in the sense that interest costs will be payable in the foreign currency and can be paid from income in the same company
what is interest rate risk?
risk of gains or losses on assets and liabilities due to changes in interest rates