Financial Markets and Institutions

Abridged 10th Edition

by Jeff Madura

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15

Swap Markets

Chapter Objectives
describe the types of interest rate swaps that are
available
explain the risks of interest rate swaps
identify other interest rate derivative instruments that
are commonly used
explain how credit default swaps are used to reduce
credit risk
describe how the swap markets have become globalized
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Background
An interest rate swap is an arrangement whereby
one party exchanges one set of interest payments
for another.

The provisions of an interest rate swap include

The notional principal value to which the interest rates are

applied to determine the interest payments involved.
The fixed interest rate.
The formula and type of index used to determine the floating
rate.
The frequency of payments, such as every six months or
every year.
The lifetime of the swap.
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Background
An example of a swap is an agreement to exchange 11
percent fixed-rate payments for floating payments at the
prevailing one-year Treasury bill plus 1 percent based on
$30 million notional principal.
Swap payments are usually netted.
The market for swaps is facilitated by over-the-counter
trading rather than trading on an organized exchange.
Interest rate swaps became popular in the early 1980s
when corporations were experiencing large fluctuations in
interest rates.

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Background
Use of Swaps for Hedging
Financial institutions in the U.S. with more
interest rate sensitive liabilities than assets were
adversely affected by increasing interest rates.
Financial institutions in Europe had more access
to long-term fixed rate funding and used the
funds for floating-rate loans and were adversely
affected by declining interest rates.

Interest rate swaps allowed both types of

financial institutions to reduce exposure to
interest rate risk.

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Exhibit 15.1 Illustration of an Interest Rate Swap

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Background
Use of Swaps for Speculating
When the swap is used for speculating rather
than for hedging, any loss on the swap positions
will not be offset by gains from other operations.

Participation by Financial Institutions

Financial institutions such as commercial banks,
savings institutions, insurance companies, and
pension funds that are exposed to interest rate
movements commonly engage in swaps to
reduce interest rate risk.
7

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Exhibit 15.2 Participation of Financial Institutions

in Swap Markets

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Types of Interest Rate Swaps

Plain Vanilla Swaps (fixed-for-floating swap)
Fixed-rate payments are periodically exchanged
for floating-rate payments.

Forward Swaps
Involves an exchange of interest payments that
does not begin until a specified future time.
Useful for financial institutions or other firms that
expect to be exposed to interest rate risk at some
time in the future.
9

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Exhibit 15.3 Illustration of a Plain Vanilla (Fixedfor-Floating) Swap

10

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Exhibit 15.4 Possible Effects of a Plain Vanilla Swap Agreement (Fixed

Rate of 9 Percent in Exchange for Floating Rate of LIBOR + 1 Percent)

11

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Exhibit 15.5 Illustration of a Forward Swap

12

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Types of Interest Rate Swaps

Callable Swaps
Gives the party making the fixed payments the
right to terminate the swap prior to its maturity.
It allows the fixed-rate payer to avoid exchanging
future interest payments if it desires.

Putable Swaps
Gives the party making the floating-rate
payments the right to terminate the swap.
A putable swap allows the institution to terminate
the swap in the event that interest rates rise (see
13

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Exhibit 15.6 Illustration of a Callable Swap

14

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Exhibit 15.7 Illustration of a Putable Swap

15

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Types of Interest Rate Swaps

Extendable Swaps
Contains a feature that allows the fixed-forfloating party to extend the swap period.
The terms of an extendable swap reflect a price
paid for the extendability feature..

Zero-Coupon-for-Floating Swaps
The fixed-rate payer makes a single payment at
the maturity date of the swap agreement, and the
floating-rate payer makes periodic payments
throughout the swap period.
16

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Exhibit 15.8 Illustration of an Extendable Swap

17

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Exhibit 15.9 Illustration of a Zero-Coupon-forFloating Swap

18

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Types of Interest Rate Swaps

Rate-Capped Swaps
Involves the exchange of fixed-rate payments for
floating-rate payments that are capped.

Equity Swaps
Involves the exchange of interest payments for
payments linked to the degree of change in a
stock index.

19

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Exhibit 15.10 Illustration of a Rate-Capped Swap

20

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Types of Interest Rate Swaps

Other Types of Swaps
Use of Swaps to Accommodate Financing
Preferences (Exhibit 15.11).
Tax Advantage Swaps

21

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Exhibit 15.11 Illustration of an Interest Rate Swap

to Reconfigure Bond Payments

22

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Risks of Interest Rate Swaps

Basis Risk
The interest rate of the index used for an interest rate
swap will not necessarily move perfectly in tandem with
the floating-rate instruments of the parties involved in the
swap.
When this happens, the higher payments received do not
offset the increase in the cost of funds.
Basis risk prevents the interest rate swap from
completely eliminating the financial institutions exposure
to interest rate risk.

23

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Risks of Interest Rate Swaps

Credit Risk

There is risk that a firm involved in an interest rate swap

will not meet its payment obligations.
Concerns about a Swap Credit Crisis - The willingnes
of large banks and securities firms to provide guarantees
has increased the popularity of interest rate swaps, but it
has also raised concerns that widespread adverse effects
might occur if any of these intermediaries cannot meet
their obligations.

24

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Risks of Interest Rate Swaps

Sovereign Risk
Reflects potential adverse effects resulting from a
countrys political conditions.
Sovereign risk differs from credit risk because it
depends on the financial status of the
government rather than on the counterparty itself.

25

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Pricing Interest Rate Swaps

Prevailing Market Interest Rates
The fixed interest rate specified in a swap is influenced by
supply and demand conditions for funds having the
appropriate maturity.

Availability of Counterparties
When numerous counterparties are available for a particular
desired swap, a party may be able to negotiate a more
attractive deal.

Credit and Sovereign Risk

A party involved in an interest rate swap must assess the
probability of default by the counterparty.
26

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Performance of Interest Rate Swaps

When strong economic forces cause interest
rates to rise, the party that is swapping fixed-rate
payments for floating-rate payments will benefit.
Because the performance of a particular interest
rate swap position is normally influenced by
future interest rate movements, participants in the
interest rate swap market closely monitor
indicators that may affect these movements.

27

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Exhibit 15.12 Framework for Explaining Net

Payments Resulting from an Interest Rate Swap

28

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Interest Rate Caps, Floors, and Collars

Interest Rate Caps
Offers payments in periods when a specified interest rate
index exceeds a specified ceiling (cap) interest rate.
The payments are based on the amount by which the
interest rate exceeds the ceiling, multiplied as usual by
the notional principal specified in the agreement.
The buyer of a cap is a financial institution that would be
adversely affected by rising interest rates.
The seller of a cap receives the fee and is obligated to t
provide payments when rates exceed the ceiling rate.
29

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Exhibit 15.13 Illustration of an Interest Rate Cap

30

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Interest Rate Caps, Floors, and Collars

Interest Rate Floors
Offers payments in periods when a specified interest rate
index falls below a specified floor rate.
The payments are based on the amount by which the
interest rate falls below the floor rate, which is multiplied
by the notional principal specified in the agreement.
The buyer of an interest rate floor will receive payments
when interest rates decline below the floor.
The seller of an interest rate floor receives a fee and is
obligated to provide periodic payments when the interest
rate falls below the floor rate specified in the agreement.
31

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Exhibit 15.14 Illustration of an Interest Rate Floor

32

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Interest Rate Caps, Floors, and Collars

Interest Rate Collars
Involves the purchase of an interest rate cap and
the simultaneous sale of an interest rate floor.
Because the collar also involves the sale of an
interest rate floor, the financial institution is
obligated to make payments if interest rates
decline below the floor.

33

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Exhibit 15.15 Illustration of an Interest Rate Collar (Combined

Purchase of Interest Rate Cap and Sale of Interest Rate Floor)

34

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Credit Default Swaps

A privately negotiated contract that protects investors
against the risk of default on particular debt securities.
The main participants in the CDS market are commercial
banks, insurance companies, hedge funds, and securities
firms.
One party is the buyer, who is willing to provide periodic
(usually quarterly) payments to the other party, the seller.
The seller receives the payments from the buyer but is
obligated to reimburse the buyer if the securities specified
in the swap agreement default.

35

The buyer of a CDS is protected if the securities specified

in the CDS contract default.
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Credit Default Swaps

Secondary Market for CDS Contracts
The secondary market allows financial institutions
participating in a CDS contract to pass on their
obligations to other willing parties..

Collateral on CDS Contracts

The lack of transparency in CDS pricing has
caused conflicts regarding the levels of collateral
to be held and has resulted in lawsuits.

36

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Credit Default Swaps

Payments on a Credit Default Swap
When economic growth is strong, the payments required
on most CDS should be relatively low because the default
risk is usually low.
When economic conditions are weak, the payments
required on most CDS should be relatively high because
the default risk is high.

How CDS Contracts Affect Debtor-Creditor

Negotiations
When a firm encounters financial problems, its creditors
attempt to work with the firm to prevent bankruptcy.
37

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Credit Default Swaps

Development of the CDS Market
Credit default swaps were created in the 1990s
as a way to protect bondholders from default risk.
Over time, CDS contracts were adapted to
protect investors that purchased mortgagebacked securities.

38

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Credit Default Swaps

Impact of the Credit Crisis on the CDS Marke

As the housing market began to weaken in 2006,
investors purchased CDS contracts as protection
against the default of these mortgage-backed
securities.

39

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Credit Default Swaps

Impact of the Credit Crisis on the CDS Marke

1. Using CDS Contracts to Bet on Mortgage
Defaults
Financial institutions that anticipated a major decline in
housing prices purchased CDS contracts on MBS even
when they had no exposure to MBS.
During the credit crisis, many MBS defaulted; this
generated large profits for the buyers of CDS contracts and
major losses for the sellers.

2. Insufficient Margins on CDS Contracts During the credit crisis, many credit default swaps did
not have a sufficient margin backing the agreement.
40

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Credit Default Swaps

Impact of the Credit Crisis on the CDS Marke

3. Impact of Lehman Brothers Failure
When Lehman Brothers went bankrupt in September 2008,
it did not cover all of its CDS obligations. Thus, many
financial institutions that had purchased CDS contracts from
Lehman were not protected.
Another impact of the Lehman Brothers failure was that
participants recognized that the government will not
automatically rescue all large financial institutions.

4.Impact of AIGs Financial Problems - the Fed

injected billions of dollars into AIG because it feared major
damage to the financial sector.

41

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Credit Default Swaps

Reform of CDS Contracts
As a result of the Financial Reform Act of 2010, derivative
securities are to be traded on an exchange
Derivative contracts should become more standardized.
The pricing of these contracts should become more
transparent.
The use of standardized contracts should increase the trading
volume.
Market participants and regulators should be more informed
about the use of particular swap contracts if they are traded
on an exchange.

42

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Globalization of Swap Markets

Currency Swaps
Arrangements whereby currencies are
exchanged at specified exchange rates and at
specified intervals.

Using Currency Swaps to Hedge Bond

Payments
Although currency swaps are commonly used to
hedge payments on international trade, they may
also be used in conjunction with bond issues to
hedge foreign cash flows.
43

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Exhibit 15.16 Impact of Currency Swaps

44

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Exhibit 15.17 Illustration of a Currency Swap

45

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Globalization of Swap Markets

4. Risk of Currency Swaps - The same types of
risk that apply to interest rate swaps may also
apply to currency swaps.

There may be basis risk if the firm cannot obtain a currency

swap on the currency to which it is exposed and instead uses
a related currency.
Currency swaps can also be subject to credit risk, which
reflects the possibility that the counterparty may default on
its obligation.
A third type of risk is sovereign risk, which reflects the
possibility that a country may restrict the convertibility of a
particular currency.
46

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SUMMARY
Various types of interest rate swaps are used to reduce interest
rate risk. Some of the more popular types of interest rate
swaps are plain vanilla swaps, forward swaps, callable swaps,
putable swaps, extendable swaps, rate-capped swaps, and
equity swaps. Each type of swap accommodates a particular
need of financial institutions or other firms that are exposed to
interest rate risk.
When engaging in interest rate swaps, the participants can be
exposed to basis risk, credit risk, and sovereign risk. Basis risk
prevents the interest rate swap from completely eliminating the
swap users exposure to interest rate risk. Credit risk reflects
the possibility that the counterparty on a swap agreement may
not meet its payment obligations. Sovereign risk reflects the
possibility that political conditions could prevent the
counterparty in a swap agreement from meeting its payment
obligations.
47

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SUMMARY
In addition to the traditional forms of interest rate
swaps, three other interest rate derivative
instruments are commonly used to hedge interest
rate risk: interest rate caps, interest rate floors, and
interest rate collars. Interest rate caps offer payments
when a specified interest rate index exceeds the
interest rate ceiling (cap) and therefore can hedge
against rising interest rates. Interest rate floors offer
payments when a specified interest rate index falls
below a specified interest rate floor; they can be used
to hedge against declining interest rates. An interest
rate collar involves the purchase of an interest rate
cap and the simultaneous sale of an interest rate
floor; it is used to hedge against rising interest rates.
48

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SUMMARY
Credit default swaps are commonly purchased by financial
institutions to protect against default on specific debt securities
that they previously purchased. These swaps are sold by
financial institutions that are willing to insure against the
securities default. Some financial institutions with major
positions in CDS contracts experienced financial problems
during the credit crisis in 2008 and were unable to cover their
obligations. The credit crisis was intensified by the uncertainty
surrounding potential losses of financial institutions that had
positions in credit default swaps.
The interest rate swap market has become globalized in the
sense that financial institutions from various countries
participate. Interest rate swaps are available in a variety of
currencies.
49

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