Chapter 7

Foreign Currency
Derivatives:
Futures and
Options
 Learning Objectives

• Explain how foreign currency futures are

quoted, valued, and used for speculation
purposes
• Explore the buying and writing of foreign
currency options in terms of risk and return
• Examine how foreign currency option values
change with exchange rate movements and
over time
• Analyze how foreign currency option values
change with price component changes

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 Foreign Currency Derivatives and
Swaps
• Financial management of the MNE in the 21st
century involves financial derivatives.
• These derivatives, so named because their values
are derived from underlying assets, are a powerful
tool used in business today.
• These instruments can be used for two very distinct
management objectives:
– Speculation: use of derivative instruments to take a
position in the expectation of a profit
– Hedging: use of derivative instruments to reduce the risks
associated with the everyday management of corporate
cash flow

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 Foreign Currency Derivatives

• Derivatives are used by firms to achieve one of

more of the following individual benefits:
– Permit firms to achieve payoffs that they would not be able
to achieve without derivatives, or could achieve only at
greater cost
– Hedge risks that otherwise would not be possible to hedge
– Make underlying markets more efficient
– Reduce volatility of stock returns
– Minimize earnings volatility
– Reduce tax liabilities
– Motivate management (agency theory effect)

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 Foreign Currency Futures

• A foreign currency futures contract is an alternative

to a forward contract that calls for future delivery of
a standard amount of foreign exchange at a fixed
time, place and price.
• It is similar to futures contracts that exist for
commodities such as cattle, lumber, interest-
bearing deposits, gold, etc.
• In the U.S., the most important market for foreign
currency futures is the International Monetary
Market (IMM), a division of the Chicago Mercantile
Exchange.

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 Foreign Currency Futures
• Contract specifications are established by the
exchange on which futures are traded.
• Major features that are standardized are:
– Contract size
– Method of stating exchange rates
– Maturity date
– Last trading day
– Collateral and maintenance margins
– Settlement
– Commissions
– Use of a clearinghouse as a counterparty
• Exhibit 7.1 provides a description of futures
contracts for the Mexican peso

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 Exhibit 7.1 Mexican Peso (CME)
(MXN 500,000; $ per 10MXN)

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 Foreign Currency Futures

• Foreign currency futures contracts differ from forward

contracts in a number of important ways:
– Futures are standardized in terms of size while forwards
can be customized
– Futures have fixed maturities while forwards can have any
maturity (both typically have maturities of one year or
less)
– Trading on futures occurs on organized exchanges while
forwards are traded between individuals and banks
– Futures have an initial margin that is market to market on
a daily basis while only a bank relationship is needed for a
forward
– Futures are rarely delivered upon (settled) while forwards
are normally delivered upon (settled)

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 Foreign Currency Options

• A foreign currency option is a contract giving

the option purchaser (the buyer) the right,
but not the obligation, to buy or sell a given
amount of foreign exchange at a fixed price
per unit for a specified time period (until the
maturity date).
• There are two basic types of options, puts
and calls.
– A call is an option to buy foreign currency
– A put is an option to sell foreign currency

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 Foreign Currency Options

• The buyer of an option is termed the holder,

while the seller of the option is referred to
as the writer or grantor.
• Every option has three different price
elements:
– The exercise or strike price: the exchange rate at
which the foreign currency can be purchased
(call) or sold (put)
– The premium: the cost, price, value of the option
– The underlying or actual spot exchange rate in
the market

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 Foreign Currency Options

• An American option gives the buyer the

right to exercise the option at any time
between the date of writing and the
expiration or maturity date.
• A European option can be exercised only on
its expiration date, not before.
• The premium, or option price, is the cost of
the option.

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 Foreign Currency Options

• An option whose exercise price is the same as the

spot price of the underlying currency is said to be
at-the-money (ATM).
• An option that would be profitable, excluding the
cost of the premium, if exercised immediately is
said to be in-the-money (ITM).
• An option that would not be profitable, again
excluding the cost of the premium, if exercised
immediately is referred to as out-of-the money
(OTM).

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 Foreign Currency Options

• In the past three decades, the use of foreign

currency options as a hedging tool and for
speculative purposes has blossomed into a major
foreign exchange activity.
• Options on the over-the-counter (OTC) market can
be tailored to the specific needs of the firm but can
expose the firm to counterparty risk.
• Options on organized exchanges are standardized,
but counterparty risk is substantially reduced.
• Exhibit 7.2 shows a published quote for the Swiss
Franc.

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 Exhibit 7.2 Swiss Franc Option
Quotations (U.S. cents/SF)

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 Buyer of a Call Option
• Buyer of an option only exercises his/her rights if
the option is profitable.
• In the case of a call option, as the spot price of the
underlying currency moves up, the holder has the
possibility of unlimited profit.
• Exhibit 7.3 shows a static profit and loss diagram
for the purchase of a Swiss Franc Call Option.
Notice how the purchaser makes a profit as the
franc appreciates vs. the dollar because the
purchaser has the right to purchase the franc at a
pre-specified/lower price than the current spot
price.

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 Exhibit 7.3 Profit and Loss for the
Buyer of a Call Option

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 Option Market Speculation
• Writer of a call (see Exhibit 7.4):
– What the holder, or buyer of an option loses, the
writer gains
– The maximum profit that the writer of the call
option can make is limited to the premium
– If the writer wrote the option without owning the
currency, the writer would now have to buy the
currency at the spot and take the loss delivering
at the strike price
– The amount of such a loss is unlimited and
increases as the underlying currency rises
– Even if the writer already owns the currency, the
writer will experience an opportunity loss
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 Exhibit 7.4 Profit and Loss for the
Writer of a Call Option

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 Option Market Speculation
• Buyer of a Put (see Exhibit 7.5):
– The basic terms of this example are similar to those just illustrated
with the call
– The buyer of a put option, however, wants to be able to sell the
underlying currency at the exercise price when the market price of
that currency drops (not rises as in the case of the call option)
– If the spot price drops to $0.575/SF, the buyer of the put will
deliver francs to the writer and receive $0.585/SF
– At any exchange rate above the strike price of 58.5, the buyer of
the put would not exercise the option, and would lose only the
$0.05/SF premium
– The buyer of a put (like the buyer of the call) can never lose more
than the premium paid up front

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 Exhibit 7.5 Profit and Loss for the
Buyer of a Put Option

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 Option Market Speculation

• Seller (writer) of a put (see Exhibit 7.6):

– In this case, if the spot price of francs drops
below 58.5 cents per franc, the option will be
exercised
– Below a price of 58.5 cents per franc, the writer
will lose more than the premium received from
writing the option (falling below break-even)
– If the spot price is above $0.585/SF, the option
will not be exercised and the option writer will
pocket the entire premium

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 Exhibit 7.6 Profit and Loss for the
Writer of a Put Option

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 Option Pricing and Valuation

• The pricing of any currency option combines

six elements:
– Present spot rate
– Time to maturity
– Forward rate for matching maturity
– U.S. dollar interest rate
– Foreign currency interest rate
– Volatility (standard deviation of daily spot price
movements)

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 Option Pricing and Valuation

• The total value (premium) of an option is equal to the intrinsic value

plus time value.
• Intrinsic value is the financial gain if the option is exercised
immediately.
– For a call option, intrinsic value is zero when the strike price is
above the market price
– When the spot price rises above the strike price, the intrinsic
value become positive
– Put options behave in the opposite manner
– On the date of maturity, an option will have a value equal to its
intrinsic value (zero time remaining means zero time value)
• The time value of an option exists because the price of the
underlying currency, the spot rate, can potentially move further into
the money between the present time and the option’s expiration
date.
• See Exhibits 7.7 and 7.8

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 Exhibit 7.7 Option Intrinsic Value,
Time Value, and Total Value

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 Exhibit 7.8 Call Option Premiums:
Intrinsic Value and Time Value
Components

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 Currency Option Pricing
Sensitivity
• If currency options are to be used effectively, either
for the purposes of speculation or risk
management, the individual trader needs to know
how option values (premiums) react to their various
components.
• Six sensitivities:
1. The impact of changing forward rates
2. The impact of changing spot rates
3. The impact of time to maturity
4. The impact of changing volatility
5. The impact of changing interest differentials
6. The impact of alternative option strike prices

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 Forward Rate Sensitivity

• Standard foreign currency options are priced

around the forward rate because the current spot
rate and both the domestic and foreign interest
rates (home currency and foreign currency rates)
are included in the option premium calculation.
• The forward rate is central to valuation.
• The option-pricing formula calculates a subjective
probability distribution centered on the forward
rate.

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 Spot Rate Sensitivity (delta)

• If the current spot rate falls on the side of the option’s strike
price—which would induce the option holder to exercise the
option upon expiration—the option also has an intrinsic value.
• The sensitivity of the option premium to a small change in the
spot exchange rate is called the delta.
• Delta varies between +1 and 0 for a call option and -1 and 0
for a put option.
• As an option moves further in-the-money, delta rises toward
1.0. As an option moves further out-of-the-money, delta falls
toward zero.
• Rule of Thumb: The higher the delta (deltas of .7, or .8 and
up are considered high) the greater the probability of the
option expiring in-the-money.

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 Time to Maturity: Value and
Deterioration (theta)
• Option values increase with the length of time to maturity.
The expected change in the option premium from a small
change in the time to expiration is termed theta.
• Theta is calculated as the change in the option premium over
the change in time. Theta is based not on a linear relationship
with time, but rather the square root of time.
• Option premiums deteriorate at an increasing rate as they
approach expiration.
• Rule of Thumb: A trader will normally find longer-maturity
options better values, giving the trader the ability to alter an
option position without suffering significant time value
deterioration.

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 Sensitivity to Volatility (lambda)

• Option volatility is the standard deviation of daily percentage

changes in the underlying exchange rate.
• The primary problem with volatility is that there is no single method
for its calculation. Volatility is viewed three ways:
– historic, where the volatility is drawn from a recent period of
time;
– forward-looking, where the historic volatility is altered to reflect
expectations about the future period over which the option will
exist; and
– implied, where the volatility is backed out of the market price of
the option. Selected implied volatilities for a number of currency
pairs are listed in Exhibit 7.9.
• Rule of Thumb: Traders who believe volatilities will fall significantly
in the near-term will sell (write) options now, hoping to buy them
back for a profit immediately after volatilities fall causing option
premiums to fall.

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 Exhibit 7.9 Foreign Currency
Implied Volatilities (percent)

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 Sensitivity to Changing Interest
Rate Differentials (rho and phi)
• The expected change in the option premium from a
small change in the domestic interest rate (home
currency) is termed rho.
• The expected change in the option premium from a
small change in the foreign interest rate (foreign
currency) is termed phi.
• Rule of Thumb: A trader who is purchasing a call
option on foreign currency should do so before the
domestic interest rate rises. This will allow the
trader to purchase the option before its price
increases.

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 Alternative Strike Prices and
Option Premiums
• A firm purchasing an option in the over-the-counter
market may choose its own strike rate.
• Options with strike rates that are already in-the-
money will have both intrinsic and time value
elements.
• Options with strike rates that are out-of-the-money
will have only a time value component.
• Exhibit 7.10 briefly summarizes the various “Greek”
elements and impacts discussed in the previous
sections.

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 Exhibit 7.10 Summary of Option
Premium Components

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