Deck 7: Swaps

Question 1

Which of the following describes the five-year swap rate?

A)The rate on a five-year loan to a AA-rated company
B)The rate on a five-year loan to an A-rated company
C)The rate that can be earned over five years from a series of short-term loans to AA-rated companies
D)The rate that can be earned over five years from a series of short-term loans to A-rated companies

Answer 1

C
By considering the effect of making a series of LIBOR loans to AA-rated companies and entering into a swap we see that the swap rate corresponds to the risk in a series of short-term loans.

Question 2

Which of the following is a typical bid-offer spread on the swap rate for a plain vanilla interest rate swap?

A)3 basis points
B)8 basis points
C)13 basis points
D)18 basis points

Answer 2

A
3 basis points is a typical spread between the bid and the offer on a plain vanilla interest rate swap.

Question 3

An interest rate swap has three years of remaining life.Payments are exchanged annually.Interest at 3% is paid and 12-month LIBOR is received.A exchange of payments has just taken place.The one-year,two-year and three-year LIBOR/swap zero rates are 2%,3% and 4%.All rates an annually compounded.What is the value of the swap as a percentage of the principal when LIBOR discounting is used.

A)0.00
B)2.66
C)2.06
D)1.06

Answer 3

B
Suppose the principal 100.The value of the floating rate bond underlying the swap is 100.The value of the fixed rate bond is 3/1.02+3/(1.03)² +103/(1.04)³=97.34.The value of the swap is therefore 100?97.34 = 2.66 or 2.66% of the principal

Question 4

A company enters into an interest rate swap where it is paying fixed and receiving LIBOR.When interest rates increase,which of the following is true?

A)The value of the swap to the company increases
B)The value of the swap to the company decreases
C)The value of the swap can either increase or decrease
D)The value of the swap does not change providing the swap rate remains the same

Question 5

When LIBOR is used as the discount rate:

A)The value of a swap is worth zero immediately after a payment date
B)The value of a swap is worth zero immediately before a payment date
C)The value of the floating rate bond underlying a swap is worth par immediately after a payment date
D)The value of the floating rate bond underlying a swap is worth par immediately before a payment date

Question 6

Which of the following describes the way a LIBOR-in-arrears swap differs from a plain vanilla interest rate swap?

A)Interest is paid at the beginning of the accrual period in a LIBOR-in-arrears swap
B)Interest is paid at the end of the accrual period in a LIBOR-in-arrears swap
C)No floating interest is paid until the end of the life of the swap in a LIBOR-in-arrears swap, but fixed payments are made throughout the life of the swap
D)Neither floating nor fixed payments are made until the end of the life of the swap

Question 7

Company X and Company Y have been offered the following rates
Suppose that Company X borrows fixed and company Y borrows floating.If they enter into a swap with each other where the apparent benefits are shared equally,what is company X's effective borrowing rate?

A)3-month LIBOR?30bp
B)3.1%
C)3-month LIBOR?10bp
D)3.3%

Question 8

Which of the following is true for the party paying fixed in a newly negotiated interest rate swap when the yield curve is upward sloping?

A)The early forward contracts underlying the swap have a positive value and the later ones have a negative value
B)The early forward contracts underlying the swap have a negative value and the later ones have a positive value
C)The swap is designed so that all forward rates have zero value
D)Sometimes A is true and sometimes B is true

Question 9

Which of the following describes the five-year swap rate?

A)The fixed rate of interest which a swap market maker is prepared to pay in exchange for LIBOR on a 5-year swap
B)The fixed rate of interest which a swap market maker is prepared to receive in exchange for LIBOR on a 5-year swap
C)The average of A and B
D)The higher of A and B

Question 10

Which of the following describes an interest rate swap?

A)The exchange of a fixed rate bond for a floating rate bond
B)A portfolio of forward rate agreements
C)An agreement to exchange interest at a fixed rate for interest at a floating rate
D)All of the above

Question 11

The reference entity in a credit default swap is

A)The buyer of protection
B)The seller of protection
C)The company or country whose default is being insured against
D)None of the above

Question 12

A bank enters into a 3-year swap with company X where it pays LIBOR and receives 3.00%.It enters into an offsetting swap with company Y where is receives LIBOR and pays 2.95%.Which of the following is true:

A)If company X defaults, the swap with company Y is null and void
B)If company X defaults, the bank will be able to replace company X at no cost
C)If company X defaults, the swap with company Y continues
D)The bank's bid-offer spread is 0.5 basis points

Question 13

A floating for floating currency swap is equivalent to

A)Two interest rate swaps, one in each currency
B)A fixed-for-fixed currency swap and one interest rate swap
C)A fixed-for-fixed currency swap and two interest rate swaps, one in each currency
D)None of the above

Question 14

In a fixed-for-fixed currency swap,3% on a US dollar principal of $150 million is received and 4% on a British pound principal of 100 million pounds is paid.The current exchange rate is 1.55 dollar per pound.Interest rates in both countries for all maturities are currently 5% (continuously compounded).Payments are exchanged every year.The swap has 2.5 years left in its life.What is the value of the swap?

A)?$7.15
B)?$8.15
C)?$9.15
D)?$10.15

Question 15

Which of the following is a use of a currency swap?

A)To exchange an investment in one currency for an investment in another currency
B)To exchange borrowing in one currency for borrowings in another currency
C)To take advantage situations where the tax rates in two countries are different
D)All of the above

Question 16

A semi-annual pay interest rate swap where the fixed rate is 5.00% (with semi-annual compounding)has a remaining life of nine months.The six-month LIBOR rate observed three months ago was 4.85% with semi-annual compounding.Today's three and nine month LIBOR rates are 5.3% and 5.8% (continuously compounded)respectively.From this it can be calculated that the forward LIBOR rate for the period between three- and nine-months is 6.14% with semi-annual compounding.If the swap has a principal value of $15,000,000,what is the value of the swap to the party receiving a fixed rate of interest?

A)$74,250
B)?$70,760
C)?$11,250
D)$103,790

Question 17

Which of the following is true?

A)Principals are not usually exchanged in a currency swap
B)The principal amounts usually flow in the opposite direction to interest payments at the beginning of a currency swap and in the same direction as interest payments at the end of the swap.
C)The principal amounts usually flow in the same direction as interest payments at the beginning of a currency swap and in the opposite direction to interest payments at the end of the swap.
D)Principals are not usually specified in a currency swap

Question 18

A company can invest funds for five years at LIBOR minus 30 basis points.The five-year swap rate is 3%.What fixed rate of interest can the company earn by using the swap?

A)2.4%
B)2.7%
C)3.0%
D)3.3%

Question 19

Which of the following is true for an interest rate swap?

A)A swap is usually worth close to zero when it is first negotiated
B)Each forward rate agreement underlying a swap is worth close to zero when the swap is first entered into
C)Comparative advantage is a valid reason for entering into the swap
D)None of the above

Question 20

A floating-for-fixed currency swap is equivalent to

A)Two interest rate swaps, one in each currency
B)A fixed-for-fixed currency swap and one interest rate swap
C)A fixed-for-fixed currency swap and two interest rate swaps, one in each currency
D)None of the above