Currency Swaps
1Meaning CurrencySwapsrefertothearrangementwhereprincipaland interestpaymentsinonecurrencyisexchangedforsuch paymentsinanothercurrency. 2Features TheprincipalamountforboththeCompaniesareequalor almostequalbasedontheexchangerateprevailingonthedate ofstartingtheswaparrangement. 3Benefits Thiswillguardagainstexchangerateriskforboththeenterprises andeliminatesuncertainties,forboththeparties.
4Types: CurrencySwapscancategorizedbasedonhowinterestratesare structured- (a)FixedFor FixedCurrencySwap: TheinterestpaymentsexchangedarepayableunderFixed RateBasisforboththecontractingparties. (b)FixedforFloatingCurrencySwap: InterestpaymentsexchangedarepayableunderFixedRate BasisforpartyandFloatingRatebasistheotherparty. (c)FloatingforFloatingCurrencySwap: InterestpaymentsexchangedarepayableunderFloating RateBasisforboththeparties.However,thebaseforfixing thefloatingratesarethesameforboththeparties,i.e. LIBORorMIBORetc.
Acurrencyswapallowsthetwocounterpartiestoswapinterest ratecommitmentsonborrowingsindifferentcurrencies. Ineffectacurrencyswaphastwoelements: Anexchangeofprincipalindifferentcurrencies,whichare swappedbackattheoriginalspotrate. Anexchangeofinterestrates–thetimingofthesedepends ontheindividualcontract.