Foreign Exchange Risk Management- Which hedging techniques can be used by a mid-size company

Since 1973 the exchange rates of major currencies have been permitted to float freely against one another. This, along with an increase in the volume of the world trade, has escalated foreign currency risk. Exchange rate movements have a significant impact on companies engaged in international trade. In contrast to big multinational companies, that have a broad range of tools available to reduce their foreign currency exposure, middle-sized companies have only limited possibilities to hedge their foreign exchange rate risk. The aim of the paper is to examine all available hedging techniques that can be utilized by a middle-sized company and to analyse the impact of an effective foreign exchange risk management on the value of the company. The paper begins with an overview of the foreign exchange market and detailed analysis of models that are used to make short-, medium- and longterm exchange rate forecasts. Further on, the book examines the impact of FX hedging procedures on the company and presents pro and counterarguments of corporate hedging. Finally, different internal and external hedging techniques are examined in order to make recommendations on when a particular hedging technique should be used.

Dipl.-Math, M.A.Postgraduate degree in Mathematics from the Belausian State University and M.A. in International Business from the Munich Business School. Credit Analyst of the Alternative Investments Department, Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (RZB)