Accounting Fundamentals for Financial Institutions Midterm

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FinancialRisks.pptx

Asset and Liability Management

Fin6102

Ferriter – Spring 2018

Overview

This chapter discusses the risks faced by financial institutions:

Interest rate risk, market risk, credit risk, off-balance-sheet risk, foreign exchange risk, country or sovereign risk, technology and operational risk, liquidity risk, and insolvency risk

Note: These risks are not unique to FIs

Faced by all global firms

Ch 7-2

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Risks of Financial Intermediation

Interest rate risk results from mismatch in asset and liability maturities:

Spread changes as interest rates change

Since value = PV(Cash flows), equity affected

Balance sheet hedge via matching maturities of assets and liabilities is problematic for FIs

Inconsistent with active asset transformation function

Reinvestment/refinancing

Market value risks

Ch 7-3

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Credit Risk

Risk that promised cash flows will not be paid in full

High rate of charge-offs of debt in the 1980s, most of the 1990s, and 2000s

Charge-offs continued to grow until late 2008

Firm-specific credit risk

Systematic credit risk

Ch 7-4

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Ch 7-5

Charge-Off Rates for Commercial Banks

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Implications of Growing Credit Risk

Importance of credit screening and monitoring

Diversification of credit risk

Loan sales, reschedulings, good bank-bad bank structure

Credit derivatives

Ch 7-6

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Liquidity Risk

Risk of being forced to borrow or sell assets in a very short period of time

Low prices result

May generate runs

Runs may turn a liquidity problem into a solvency problem

Failure of IndyMac in summer of 2008

Ch 7-7

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Foreign Exchange Risk

FI may be net long or net short in various currencies

Returns on foreign and domestic investments are not perfectly correlated

Technological and economical differences

FX rates may not be correlated

Example: $/€ may be appreciating while $/¥ falling

Undiversified foreign exposure creates FX risk

Ch 7-8

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Note that fully hedging foreign exposure by matching foreign assets and liabilities requires matching the maturities, as well*

Otherwise, exposure to foreign interest rate risk remains

* More specifically, FI must match durations, rather than simple maturities. See Chapter 9.

Ch 7-9

Foreign Exchange Risk Continued

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Country or Sovereign Risk

Risk that foreign borrowers may be unable to repay due to interference from foreign governments

Type of credit risk

Often lack usual recourse via court system

Example:

Argentina

Ch 7-10

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In the event of restrictions, reschedulings, or outright prohibition of repayments, a FI’s remaining bargaining chip is future supply of loans

Weak position if currency collapsing or government failing

Ch 7-11

Country or Sovereign Risk Continued

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Market Risk

Incremental risk incurred by FI when interest rate, FX, and credit risks are combined with an active trading strategy

Short trading horizons

Financial crisis of 2008-2009

Mortgage-backed securities

“Toxic” assets

Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, AIG

Ch 7-12

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Market Risk Continued

Present whenever a FI takes an open or unhedged long (buy) or sell (short) position in securities, FX, or derivative products, and prices change in a direction opposite to expectation

Implications for regulators and management:

Need for controls

Need for measurement of risk exposure

Ch 7-13

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Off-Balance-Sheet Risk

Striking growth of off-balance-sheet activities

Letter of credit

Loan commitments

Derivative securities

Contingent assets and liabilities

Direct impact on future profitability and performance of FI

Ch 7-14

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Technology and Operational Risk

Risk of loss resulting from inadequate or failed internal processes, people and systems, or from external events

Target hacking incident in 2013

Heartland Payment Systems

“the London Whale”

Operational risk includes technology risk

Ch 7-15

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Technology Risk

Technological innovation has seen rapid growth

Automated clearing houses (ACH)

CHIPS

Real time interconnection of global FIs via satellite systems

E.g., Citigroup

Ch 7-16

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Economies of scale

Economies of scope

Operational risk not exclusively the result of technological failure

Employee fraud and errors

Losses magnified since they may result in loss of reputation and future business

Ch 7-17

Technology and Operational Risk Continued

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Insolvency Risk

Risk of insufficient capital to offset sudden decline in value of assets relative to liabilities

Original cause may be excessive interest rate, market, credit, off-balance-sheet, technology, FX, sovereign, and liquidity risks

Washington Mutual

“Too big to fail” (e.g., Citigroup)

Ch 7-18

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Other Risks and the Interaction of Risks

Interdependencies among risks

Example: Interest rate, credit and off-balance-sheet risks

Example: Liquidity, interest rate and credit risks

Discrete risks

Examples include effects of war or terrorist acts, market crashes, theft, and malfeasance

Changes in regulatory policy

Ch 7-19

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Pertinent Websites

Bank for International Settlements

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Ch 7-20

www.bis.org

www.fdic.gov

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