Exam 24: Swaps

An interest rate swap

A bank with a strong positive leverage adjusted duration gap can hedge their exposure to interest rate increases by entering into

A thrift has funded 10 percent fixed-rate assets with variable-rate liabilities at LIBOR + 2 (L + 2)percent.A bank has funded variable-rate assets with fixed-rate liabilities at 6 percent.The bank's variable-rate assets earn LIBOR + 1 (L + 1)percent.The thrift and the bank have reached agreement on an interest-rate swap with the fixed-rate swap payment at 6 percent and the variable-rate swap payment at LIBOR. Assume that the swap is for two years and that LIBOR is 5.25 percent in year one and 6.25 percent in year two.What will be the net swap cash flow each year if the notional value of a swap is $100 million?

The party in a swap that receives fixed-rate payments will always have zero basis risk since the fixed-rate swap payments can be structured to cover the fixed-rate liability payments.

The largest segment of the global swap market is the currency swap market.

The on-the-run yield curve of U.S.Treasury securities is the yield curve for outstanding,previously issued securities.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)has jurisdiction over swaps.

The vast majority of credit derivative contracts held by commercial banks consist of credit

What is the basic reason that two counterparties enter into a swap agreement?

What kind of interest rate swap (of liabilities)would an FI with a positive funding gap utilize to hedge interest rate risk exposure?

A U.S.bank agrees to a swap of making fixed-rate interest payments of $12 million to a UK bank in exchange for floating-rate payments of LIBOR + 4 percent in British pounds for a notional amount of £100 million.The current exchange rate is $1.50/£.The interest payments will be exchanged at the end of the year at the prevailing rates. At the end of the year,LIBOR is 4 percent and the exchange rate is $1.50/£.What is the net payment paid or received in dollars by the U.S.bank?

Swap transactions are homogeneous in nature so that the contracts can be easily traded in the secondary market for swaps.

A bank has assets of $500,000,000 and equity of $40,000,000.The assets have an average duration of 5.5 years,and the liabilities have an average duration of 2.5 years.An 8-year fixed-rate T-bond with the same coupon as the fixed-rate on the swap has a duration of 6 years,and the duration of a floating-rate bond that reprices annually is one year.The bank wishes to hedge its balance sheet with swap contracts that have notional contracts of $100,000.What is the optimal number of swap contracts into which the bank should enter?

In the derivatives markets,the instrument with the longest potential maturity is

Most swap agreements are negotiated privately without the use of an intermediary.

What is the special feature of an off-market swap arrangement?

The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 established comprehensive regulation of over-the-counter (OTC)derivatives including swaps.

A bank with total assets of $271 million and equity of $31 million has a leverage adjusted duration gap of +0.21 years.One-year maturity notes are currently priced at par and are paying 4.5 percent annually.Two-year maturity notes are currently priced at par and are paying 5 percent annually.The terms of a swap of $100 million notional value of liabilities' payments are 4.95 percent annual fixed payments in exchange for floating rate payments tied to the annual discount yield. What is the forward one-year discount yield expected next year?

In a conventional interest rate swap agreement,the fixed-rate payer is attempting to transform the variable-rate nature of its liabilities into fixed-rate liabilities.

Which of the following is true of the "netting" process in the swap market?