WEEK 4

Exercise 2

Gamma and Delta Companies can borrow for a ten-year term at the following rates:

Gamma Gamma Delta

Moodys credit Aa Baa
rating
Fixed-rate 10.5% 12%
borrowing cost
Floating-rate LIBOR LIBOR + 1%
borrowing cost

Develop an interest rate swap in which both Gamma and Delta have equal cost savings in their borrowing
costs. Assume Gamma desires floating-rate debt and Delta desires fixed-rate debt. A swap bank is involved in
the swap as an intermediary. Assume the swap bank is quoting ten-year dollar interest rate swaps at 10.710.8
percent against LIBOR flat.

Solution

GAMMA DESIRES FLOATING RATE. IT WILL ISSUE FIXED-RATE DEBT AND SWAP IT
DELTA DESIRES FIXED RATE. IT WILL ISSUE FLOATING AND SWAP IT

Gamma

Pays to its creditors a 10.5% interest rate

Receive from the intermediary 10.7% interest rate
Pays to its intermediary the LIBOR
Net results Is that it pays the LIBOR 0.20%, which is cheaper than market floating borrowing costs

Delta

Pays its creditors LIBOR + 1%

Receive from the intermediary the LIBOR
Pays to the intermediary 10.8%
Net result is that it pays 1% + 10.8% = 11.8%, saving 0.20% from the market cost of fixed-rate debt

Bank

Receives LIBOR from Gamma

Pays 10.7% to Gamma
Receives 10.8% from Delta
Pays LIBOR to Delta

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Exercise 3

ABC Corporation is a AAA-rated firm desiring to issue five-year FRNs. It finds that it can issue FRNs at six-month
LIBOR + .125 percent or at three-month LIBOR + .125 percent. Given its asset structure, three-month LIBOR is
the preferred index. XYZ Corporation is an A-rated firm that also desires to issue five-year FRNs. It finds it can
issue at six-month LIBOR + 1.0 percent or at three-month LIBOR + .625 percent. Given its asset structure, six-
month LIBOR is the preferred index. Assume a notional principal of $15,000,000. Determine the QSD and set
up a floating-for-floating rate swap where the swap bank receives .125 percent and the two counterparties
share the remaining savings equally.

Solution

Here we have a Quality Spread Differential for two reference rate rather than a fixed one and a floating one

QSD = [(6m LIBOR + 1%) (6m LIBOR + 0.125%)] [(3m LIBOR + 0.625%) (3m LIBOR + 0.125%)] = 0.875 0.50
=0.375%

The bank receives 0.125%. The remaining part of QSD (0.25%) is split between the two firms (0.125%)

ABC wants to use 3m LIBOR. It will issue 6m LIBOR and swap it. It has to pay 3m LIBOR + 0.125 -0.125
=3m LIBOR
XYZ wants to use 6 m LIBOR. It will issue 3m LIBOR and swap it. It has to pay 6m LIBOR + 1 0,125 = 6m
LIBOR + 0.875%

ABC

Issue 6m LIBOR, pays 6m LIBOR + 0.125%

Pays to intermediary 3m LIBOR
Receive from intermediary 6m LIBOR + 0.125%

XYZ

Issue 3m LIBOR, pays 3m LIBOR + 0.625

Pays 6m LIBOR + 0.125 to the intermediary
Receive 3m LIBOR - 0.125% from the intermediary

Notice that 3m LIBOR pays earlier! With this arrangement the bank never anticipate payments and receive its
premium quarterly. An alternative would have been XYZ to pay 6m LIBOR + 0.875 to the intermediate and
receive 3m LIBOR + 0.625, but in this way the 1st 4 months the bank anticipate payments.

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Exercise 6

Karla Ferris, a fixed income manager at Mangus Capital Management, expects the current positively sloped U.S.
Treasury yield curve to shift parallel upward.

Ferris owns two $1,000,000 corporate bonds maturing on June 15, 1999, one with a variable rate based on 6-
month U.S. dollar LIBOR and one with a fixed rate. Both yield 50 basis points over comparable U.S. Treasury
market rates, have very similar credit quality, and pay interest semi-annually.

Ferris wished to execute a swap to take advantage of her expectation of a yield curve shift and believes that
any difference in credit spread between LIBOR and U.S. Treasury market rates will remain constant.

a. Describe a six-month U.S. dollar LIBOR-based swap that would allow Ferris to take advantage of her
expectation. Discuss, assuming Ferris expectation is correct, the change in the swaps value and how that
change would affect the value of her portfolio. [No calculations required to answer part a.]

Instead of the swap described in part a, Ferris would use the following alternative derivative strategy to
achieve the same result.

b. Explain, assuming Ferris expectation is correct, how the following strategy achieves the same result in
response to the yield curve shift. [No calculations required to answer part b.]

Settlement Nominal
Date Eurodollar
Futures
Contract
Value
12-15-97 $1,000,000
03-15-98 1,000,000
06-15-98 1,000,000
09-15-98 1,000,000
12-15-98 1,000,000
03-15-99 1,000,000

c. Discuss one reason why these two derivative strategies provide the same result.

Solution

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Point A

An increase in market yields will result in a drop of the fixed-rate bond price; the floating-rate bond will
be affected only for the next coupon payment already set (assuming interest raise does not happen
just before the next coupon is reset, in that case no effect on price is expected).
She thus have to swap the fixed payment she receives with a floating payment
Once interest rates raise, she can either keep the swap and enjoy higher interest rates or sell the swap
receiving an equivalent premium (the swap replacement cost)

Point B

An Eurodollar future contract is written on a hypothetical 90 days Eurodollar deposit on 1,000,000 $

It is quoted as F= 100 (implicit) 3mLIBOR
It is used to lock-in the interest rate paid by an investment that will be done in the future
If you go long the contract you lock-in that return (you buy that return)
Half a basis point increase result in 12.5$ price change at expiration

To use them to get the same hedge as the swap:

You short a series of contracts corresponding to coupons (and principal) payments days. You lock-in an
interest to pay
As LIBOR increase, the value of futures decrease. If the position is well built, the gain on future
position exactly counterbalance the loss on the value of the fixed-rate bond

Point C

Two strategies achieving the same result should be equally convenient, to avoid arbitrage
Otherwise, market makers will enter-exit each market and supply-and-demand will balance

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Exercise 8
A company based in the United Kingdom has an Italian subsidiary. The subsidiary generates
25,000,000 a year, received in equivalent semiannual installments of 12,500,000. The British
company wishes to convert the euro cash flows to pounds twice a year. It plans to engage in a
currency swap in order to lock in the exchange rate at which it can convert the euros to pounds. The
current exchange rate is 1.5/. The fixed rate on a plain vanilla currency swap in pounds is 7.5
percent per year, and the fixed rate on a plain vanilla currency swap in euros is 6.5 percent per year.

a. Determine the notional principals in euros and pounds for a swap with semiannual payments that
will help achieve the objective.
b. Determine the semiannual cash flows from this swap.

Solution

Point A

A plain vanilla currency swap is a derivative instrument allowing to swap fixed-rate payments
on a debt denominated in one currency with fixed-rate denominated in another currency
The company wants to sell back 12,500,000 . It is equivalent of paying a 6.5%/2 interest on a
debt with a notional value of:
12,500,000/(0.065/2) = 384,615,385
The equivalent notional amount in is : 384,615,385/1.5 = 256,410,257

Point B

The subsidiary pays 12,500,000

The company receives: 256,410,257 * 7.5%/2 = 9,615,385