Deck 7: Risks of Financial Institutions

Question 1

Unanticipated withdrawals by liability holders are a major part of liquidity risk.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

FIs that make loans or buy bonds with long maturity liabilities are more exposed to interest rate risk than FIs that make loans or buy bonds with short maturity liabilities.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Credit risk stems from non-repayment or delays in repayment of either principal or interest on FI assets.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

An FI is short-funded when the maturity of its liabilities is less than the maturity of its assets.

Question 5

Managerial monitoring efficiency and credit risk management strategies affect the shape of the risk of the loan return distribution.

Question 6

Because the economies of the U.S. and other overseas countries have become more integrated, the risks of financial intermediation have decreased.

Question 7

One method of guarding against credit risk is to assess a risk premium based on the estimate of default risk exposure that a borrower carries.

Question 8

Exactly matching the maturities of assets and liabilities will provide a perfect hedge against interest rate risk for an FI.

Question 9

During a liquidity crisis assets normally must be sold at a loss because of the rising interest rates caused by financial institutions attempting to raise funds.

Question 10

Matching the maturities of assets and liabilities supports the asset transformation function of FIs.

Question 11

Direct foreign investment and foreign portfolio investment both can be beneficial to an FI because of imperfectly correlated returns with domestic investments.

Question 12

Interest rate risk stems from the impact of both anticipated and unanticipated changes in interest rates on FI profitability.

Question 13

In the case where a borrower defaults on a loan, the FI may lose only a portion of the principal that was loaned.

Question 14

The relationship of a limited or fixed upside return with a high probability and the potential large downside loss with a small probability is an example of an asset's credit risk to an FI.

Question 15

Credit risk exposes the lender to the uncertainty that only interest payments may not be received.

Question 16

Funding a portion of assets with equity capital means that hedging risk does not require perfect matching of the assets and liabilities.

Question 17

An FI is exposed to reinvestment risk by holding longer-term assets relative to liabilities.

Question 18

Historically credit card loans have had very low rates of default or credit risk when compared to other assets that an FI may hold.

Question 19

A natural consequence of the effects of realized liquidity risk across several institutions is the ability to recognize capital gains on the sale of assets in the attempt to generate cash.

Question 20

An FI that is short-funded faces the risk that the return of reinvesting assets could exceed the cost of funding those assets.

Question 21

Systematic credit risk can be reduced significantly by diversification.

Question 22

An FI is net long in foreign assets if it holds more foreign liabilities than foreign assets.

Question 23

Foreign exchange risk is that the value of assets and liabilities may change because of changes in the foreign exchange rate between two countries.

Question 24

Returns from domestic and foreign investments may not be perfectly correlated because of different economic infrastructures and growth rates.

Question 25

Foreign exchange risk is that the value of assets and liabilities may change because of changes in the level of interest rates.

Question 26

An FI can hold assets denominated in a foreign country, but it cannot issue foreign liabilities.

Question 27

Control of the future supply of funds available to a foreign country is one method to ensure the repayment of an existing debt.

Question 28

Effective use of diversification principles allows an FI to reduce the total default risk in a portfolio.

Question 29

Active trading of assets and liabilities creates market risk.

Question 30

For an FI to exactly hedge the foreign investment risk, the foreign currency assets must equal the foreign currency liabilities.

Question 31

To be immunized against foreign currency and foreign interest rate risk, an FI should match both the size and maturities of its foreign assets and foreign liabilities.

Question 32

Sovereign risk involves the inability of a foreign corporation to repay the principal or interest on a loan because of stipulations by the foreign government that are out of the control of the foreign corporation.

Question 33

Foreign exchange rate risk occurs because foreign exchange rates are volatile and can impact banks with exposed foreign assets and/or liabilities.

Question 34

Market risk is present whenever an FI takes an open position and prices change in a direction opposite to that expected.

Question 35

Individuals have an advantage over FIs in that individuals more easily can diversify away some of the credit risk of their asset portfolios.

Question 36

Foreign exchange risk includes interest rate risk and credit risk as well as changes in the foreign exchange rate between two countries.

Question 37

FIs typically are concerned about the value at risk of their trading portfolios.

Question 38

Similar to loans, non-government bonds expose a lender to principal payment default risk.

Question 39

An off-balance-sheet activity does not appear on the current balance sheet because it does not involve holding a current primary claim or the issuance of a current secondary claim.

Question 40

Firm-specific credit risk can be eliminated by diversification.

Question 41

Technology risk is the uncertainty that economies of scale or scope will be realized from the investment in new technologies.

Question 42

Regulation limits FI investment in non-investment grade bonds (rated below Baa or non-rated). What kind of risk is this designed to limit?

A)Liquidity risk.
B)Interest rate risk.
C)Credit risk.
D)Foreign exchange rate risk.
E)Off-balance sheet risk.

Question 43

Contingent claims are assets and liabilities that will come into existence at a future time often at the insistence of a customer or second party.

Question 44

Employee fraud is a type of operational risk to a financial institution.

Question 45

The risk that a computer system may malfunction during the processing of data is an example of operational risk.

Question 46

Many of the various risks faced by an FI often are interrelated with each other.

Question 47

Economies of scope involve the ability to lower the average cost of operations by expanding the output of financial services.

Question 48

The asset transformation function potentially exposes the FI to

A)foreign exchange risk.
B)technology risk.
C)operational risk.
D)trading risk.
E)interest rate risk.

Question 49

General macroeconomic risks may affect all risks of a financial institution.

Question 50

Event risks often cause sudden and unanticipated changes in financial market conditions.

Question 51

The objective of technological expansion is to achieve economies of scale at the expense of diseconomies of scope.

Question 52

Off-balance-sheet activities often affect the shape of an FIs current balance sheet through the creation of contingent claims.

Question 53

What type of risk focuses upon mismatched asset and liability maturities and durations?

A)Liquidity risk.
B)Interest rate risk.
C)Credit risk.
D)Foreign exchange rate risk.
E)Off-balance sheet risk.

Question 54

Which function of an FI involves buying primary securities and issuing secondary securities?

A)Brokerage.
B)Asset transformation.
C)Investment research.
D)Self-regulator.
E)Trading.

Question 55

Off-balance-sheet risk occurs because of activities that do not appear on the balance sheet.

Question 56

The mergers of Citicorp with Travelers Insurance is an example of an attempt to exploit economies of scope.

Question 57

A lower level of equity capital increases the risk of insolvency to a financial institution.

Question 58

Off-balance-sheet activities have become an important source of fee income, even though losses on these activities can cause a financial institution to fail.

Question 59

Holding corporate bonds with fixed interest rates involves

A)default risk only.
B)interest rate risk only.
C)liquidity risk and interest rate risk only.
D)default risk and interest rate risk.
E)default and liquidity risk only.

Question 60

What type of risk focuses upon mismatched currency positions?

A)Liquidity risk.
B)Interest rate risk.
C)Credit risk.
D)Foreign exchange rate risk.
E)Off-balance sheet risk.

Question 61

"Matching the book" or trying to match the maturities of assets and liabilities is intended to protect the FI from

A)liquidity risk.
B)interest rate risk.
C)credit risk.
D)foreign exchange risk.
E)off-balance-sheet risk.

Question 62

The risk that an investor will be forced to place earnings from a loan or security into a lower yielding investment is known as

A)liquidity risk.
B)reinvestment risk.
C)credit risk.
D)foreign exchange risk.
E)off-balance-sheet risk.

Question 63

When the assets and liabilities of an FI are not equal in size, efficient hedging of interest rate risk can be achieved by

A)increasing the duration of assets and increasing the duration of equity.
B)issuing more equity and reducing the amount of borrowed funds.
C)not exactly matching the maturities of assets and liabilities.
D)issuing more equity and investing the funds in higher-yielding assets.
E)efficient hedging cannot be achieved without the use of derivative securities.

Question 64

Politically motivated limitations on payments of foreign currency may expose an FI to

A)sovereign country risk.
B)interest rate risk.
C)credit risk.
D)foreign exchange risk.
E)off-balance-sheet risk.

Question 65

The asymmetric return distribution (relatively high probability of anticipated return; lower probability of default) on risky debt exposes the FI to

A)technology risk.
B)interest rate risk.
C)credit risk.
D)foreign exchange risk.
E)off-balance-sheet risk.

Question 66

What type of risk focuses upon future contingencies?

A)Liquidity risk.
B)Interest rate risk.
C)Credit risk.
D)Foreign exchange rate risk.
E)Off-balance sheet risk.

Question 67

The risk that borrowers are unable to repay their loans on time is

A)credit risk.
B)sovereign risk.
C)currency risk.
D)liquidity risk.
E)interest rate risk.

Question 68

Unanticipated diseconomies of scale or scope are a result of

A)interest rate risk.
B)technology risk.
C)credit risk.
D)foreign exchange risk.
E)off-balance-sheet risk.

Question 69

Matching the foreign currency book of assets and liability maturity does not protect the FI from

A)sovereign country risk.
B)interest rate risk.
C)liquidity risk.
D)foreign exchange risk.
E)off-balance-sheet risk.

Question 70

The risk that a debt security's price will fall, subjecting the investor to a potential capital loss is

A)credit risk.
B)market risk.
C)currency risk.
D)liquidity risk.
E)political risk.

Question 71

An FI that finances long-term fixed rate mortgages with short-term deposits is exposed to

A)increases in net interest income and decreases in the market value of equity when interest rates fall.
B)decreases in net interest income and decreases in the market value of equity when interest rates fall.
C)decreases in net interest income and decreases in the market value of equity when interest rates rise.
D)increases in net interest income and decreases in the market value of equity when interest rates rise.
E)increases in net interest income and increases in the market value of equity when interest rates rise.

Question 72

The risk that interest income will increase at a slower rate than interest expense is

A)credit risk.
B)political risk.
C)currency risk.
D)interest rate risk.
E)liquidity risk.

Question 73

If the loans in the bank's portfolio are all negatively correlated, what will be the impact on the bank's credit risk exposure?

A)The loans' negative correlations will decrease the bank's credit risk exposure because lower than expected returns on some loans will be offset by higher than expected returns on other loans.
B)The loans' negative correlations will increase the bank's credit risk exposure because lower than expected returns on some loans will be offset by higher than expected returns on other loans.
C)The loans' negative correlations will increase the bank's credit risk exposure because higher returns on less risky loans will be offset by lower returns on riskier loans.
D)The loans' negative correlations will decrease the bank's credit risk exposure because higher returns on less risky loans will be offset by lower returns on riskier loans.
E)There is no impact on the bank's credit risk exposure.

Question 74

The risk that a German investor who purchases British bonds will lose money when trying to convert bond interest payments made in pounds sterling into euros is called

A)liquidity risk.
B)interest rate risk.
C)credit risk.
D)foreign exchange rate risk.
E)off-balance-sheet risk.

Question 75

A small local bank failed because a housing market collapse following the departure of the area's largest employer. What type of risk applies to the failure of the institution?

A)Firm-specific risk.
B)Technological risk.
C)Operational risk.
D)Sovereign risk.
E)Insolvency risk.

Question 76

A mortgage loan officer is found to have provided false documentation that resulted in a lower interest rate on a loan approved for one of her friends. The loan was subsequently added to a loan pool, securitized and sold. Which of the following risks applies to the false documentation by the employee?

A)Market risk.
B)Credit risk.
C)Operational risk.
D)Technological risk.
E)Sovereign risk.

Question 77

The potential exercise of unanticipated contingencies can result in

A)technology risk.
B)interest rate risk.
C)credit risk.
D)foreign exchange risk.
E)off-balance-sheet risk.

Question 78

The risk that many borrowers in a particular country fail to repay their loans as a result of a recession in that country relates to

A)credit risk.
B)sovereign risk.
C)currency risk.
D)liquidity risk.
E)interest rate risk.

Question 79

An FI that finances a euro (€) loan with U.S. dollar ($) deposits is exposed to

A)technology risk.
B)interest rate risk.
C)credit risk.
D)foreign exchange risk.
E)off-balance-sheet risk.

Question 80

The major source of risk exposure resulting from issuance of standby letters of credit is

A)technology risk.
B)interest rate risk.
C)credit risk.
D)foreign exchange risk.
E)off-balance-sheet risk.