TREASURY MANAGEMENT

1.  Fund management has been the primary activity of treasury, but treasury is also responsible for Risk Management & plays an active part in ALM.

2.  D-mat accounts are maintained by depository participants to hold securities in electronic form.

3.  In present scenario treasury function is liquidity management and it is considered as a service center.

4.  From an organizational point of view treasury was considered as a service center but due to economic reforms & deregulation of markets treasury has evolved as a profit center.

5.  Treasury connects core activity of the bank with the financial markets.

6.  Investment in securities & Foreign Exchange business are part of integrated treasury.  

7.  Integrated treasury refers to integration of money market, Securities market and Foreign Exchange operations.

8.  Banks have been allowed large limits in proportion of their net worth for overseas borrowings and investment. 

9.  Banks can also source funds in global markets and Swap the funds into domestic currency or vice versa.

 

10.  The treasury’s transactions with customers is known as merchant business.

 

11.  The treasury encompasses funds management, Investment and Trading in a multy currency environment.

 

12.  Globalization refers to integration between domestic and global markets.

 

13.  RBI has been progressively relaxing the Exchange Controls.

 

14.  The Exchange Control Department of RBI has been renamed as Foreign Exchange Department with effect from January 2004.

 

15.  Though treasury trades with narrow spreads, the profits are generated due to  high volume of business.

 

16.  Foreign currency position at the end of the day is known as open position.

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17.  Open position is also called Proprietary position or Trading position.

 

18.  Treasury sells Foreign Exchange services, various risk management products & structured loans to corporates.

 

19.  Forward Rate Agreement (FRA) is entered to fix interest rates in future.

 

20.  SWAP is offered to convert one currency into another currency.

 

21.  Allocation of costs to various departments or branches of the bank on a rational basis is called transfer pricing.

 

22.  The treasury functions with a degree of autonomy and headed by senior management person.

 

23.  The treasury may be divided into three main divisions 1) Dealing room 2) Back office and 3) Middle office.

 

24.  Securities market is divided into two parts, primary & secondary markets.

 

25.  The security dealers deals only with secondary market.

 

26.  The back office is responsible for verification & settlement of the deals concluded by the dealers.

 

27.  Middle office monitors exposure limits and stop loss limits of treasury and reports to the management on key parameters of performance.

 

28.  Minimum marketable investment is Rs. 5.00 Crores.

 

UNIT – 12 : TREASURY PRODUCTS

 

1.  In Foreign Exchange market free currencies can be bought and sold readily.

 

2.  Free Currencies belong to those countries whose markets are highly developed and where exchange controls are practically dispensed with.

 

3.  Foreign Exchange market is most transparent & it is virtual market.

 

4.  Foreign Exchange market may be called near perfect with an efficient price discovery system.

 

5.  Spot settlement takes place two working days from the trade date i.e. on third day.

 

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6.  Customers expecting Foreign Currency transactions cover their risk by entering forward contracts.

 

7.  Treasury enters into Forward Contract for making profits out of price movements.

 

8.  Forward exchange rates are arrived at on the basis of interest rates differentials of two currencies.

 

9.  A combination of Spot and Forward transactions is called Swap.

 

10.  The Swap route is used extensively to convert cash flows from one currency to another currency.

 

11.  Inter bank loans, Short term investments and  Nostro accounts are the avenues for investment of Forex surpluses.

 

12.  Nostro accounts are current accounts maintained in Foreign Currency by the banks with their correspondent banks in the home currency of the country.

 

13.  Balance held in Nostro accounts do not earn any interest.

 

14.  Rediscounting of Foreign Bills is an inter bank advance.

 

15.  RBI has allowed banks to include rediscounting of bills in their credit portfolio

 

16.  Money market refers to raising and developing short term resources.

 

17.  Inter bank market is subdivided into Call Money, Notice Money & Term Money.

 

18.  Call Money refers to overnight placement.

 

19.  Notice Money refers to placement beyond overnight for periods not exceeding 14 days.

 

20.  Term Money refers placement beyond 14 days but not exceeding one year.

 

21.  RBI pays interest on CRR balance in excess of 3% at Reverse Repo Rate.

 

22.  Inter bank market carries lowest risk next to Sovereign risk.

 

23.  The interest on treasury bills is by way of discount i.e. Bills are priced below face value, this is known as implicit yielding.

 

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24.  Each issue of 91 days T-bills is for Rs.500 Crores and auction is conducted on Weekly basis I.e. on every Wednesday. 

 

25.  Each issue of 364 days T-bills is Rs.1000 Crores and auction is conducted on Fortnightly basis i.e. on alternate Wednesday.

 

26.  The payment of T-bills is made and received through Clearing Corporation of India Limited ( CCIL )

 

27.  Commercial paper is short term debt market paper.

 

28.  The Commercial Paper issuing company should have minimum P2 credit rating.

 

29.  Banks can invest in Commercial Paper only if it is issued in D-mat form.

 

30.  Certificate of Deposit attracts stamp duty.

 

31.  Repo is used for lending and borrowing money market funds.

 

32.  Repo refers to sale of securities with a commitment to repurchase the same securities at a later date.

 

33.  Presently only Govt. securities are being dealt with under Repo transaction.

 

34.  Repo is used extensively by RBI as an instrument to control liquidity in the inter bank market.

 

35.  Infusion of liquidity is effected through lending to banks under Repo transactions.

 

36.  Absorption of liquidity is done by accepting deposits from banks known as Reverse Repo.

 

37.  Banks may submit their bids to RBI either for Repo or for Reverse Repo.

 

38.  The Repo would set upper rate of interest and Reverse Repo would set floor for the money market.

 

39.  Investment business is composed of buying and selling products available in securities market.

 

40.  To satisfy SLR banks can also invest in priority sector bonds of SDBI & NABARD.  

 

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41.  State Government also issue State Development Bonds through RBI.

 

42.  Corporate Debt papers includes medium and long term bonds & debentures issued by corporates and Financial Institutions.

 

43.  Debentures and bonds are debt instruments issued by corporate bodies with or without security.

 

44.  In India debentures are issued by corporates in private sector and bonds are issued by institutions in Public Sector.

 

45.  Debentures are governed by relevant company law and transferable only by registration.  But bonds are negotiable instruments governed by law of contracts.

 

46.  If the bond holders are given an option to convert the debt into equity on a fixed date or during a fixed period , these bonds are called Convertible bonds.

 

47.  Banks are permitted to invest in equities subject to a ceiling presently 5% of its total assets.

 

48.  Foreign Institutional Investors are now allowed to invest in debt market subject to an overall ceiling currently USD 1.75 Billion.

 

49.  Index Futures, Index Options, Stock futures and Stock Options etc. are the Derivative products recently introduce.

 

50.  The Derivative Products are highly popular for Risk Management as well as for speculation.

 

51.  Banks are also permitted to borrow or invest in overseas markets with in a ceiling subject to guidelines issued by RBI presently 25% of Tier – I capital or minimum USD 10 Million.

 

52.  The treasury operates in exchange market, Money market and Securities market.

 

53.  Foreign Exchange transaction includes Spot, Forward and Swap trades.

 

54.  Money market is used for deployment of surplus funds and also to raise short term funds to bridge gaps in the cash flow of bank.

 

55.  Money market products include T-bills, Commercial paper, Certificate of Deposit and Repo.

 

 

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56.  Under EEFC exporters are allowed to hold a portion of the export proceeds in current account with the bank.

 

57.  GILTS are securities issued by Government which do not have any risk.

 

58.  SGL accounts are maintained by Public Debt Office of RBI in electronic form.

 

59.  FCNR deposit is denominated in four major currencies maintained by NRIs.

 

UNIT – XIII : FUNDING AND REGULATORY ASPECTS

 

1.  Cheques and Credit Cards etc are near money and also add to money supply.

 

2.  The money in circulation is indicated by Broad Money or M3.

 

3.  The cash component is just 15% of money supply or M3.

 

4.  The monetary policy of RBI is aimed at controlling the inflation and ensuring stability of financial markets.

 

5.  Liquidity refers to surplus funds available with banks.

 

6.  An excess of liquidity leads to inflation while shortage of liquidity may result in high interest rates and depreciation of rupee exchange rate.

 

7.  CRR is to be calculated on the basis of DTL with a lag of one fortnight. 

 

8.  The interest on CRR is paid at the reverse repo rate of RBI ( presently 4.75% P.A.)

 

9.  SLR is to be maintained in the form of Cash, Gold and approved securities.

 

10.  Liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) is the principal operating instrument of RBI’s monetary policy.

 

11.  LAF is used to day to day liquidity in the market.

 

12.  LAF refers to RBI lending funds to banking sector through Repo instrument.

 

13.  RBI also accepts deposits from banks under Reverse Repo.

 

14.  RBI purchases securities from banks with an agreement to sell back the securities after a fixed period is called Repo.

 

15.  The Repo rate is 6% on par with bank rate and Reverse Repo rate is 4.75%.

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16.  The objective of RBI policy is the money market rates should normally move with in the corridor of Repo rates  and Reverse Repo rates.

 

17.  Banks can borrow and lend overnight upto maximum of 100% and 25% respectively of their net worth.

 

18.  The securities clearing against assured payment is handled by CCLI.

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19.  CCIL is a specialized institution promoted by major banks.

 

20.  RTGS has been fully activated by RBI from Oct – 2004.

 

21.  All inter bank payments and high value customer payments are settled instantly under RTGS.

 

22.  Banks accounts with all the branch offices of RBI are also integrated under RTGS.

 

23.  The INFINET has helped introduction of SFMS.

 

24.  The SFMS facilitates domestic transfer of funds and authenticated messages similar to SWIFT used by banks for international messaging.

 

25.  All security dealings are done through NDS and settled by CCIL.

 

UNIT – XIV : TREASURY RISK MANAGEMENT

 

1.   The organizational controls refer to the checks and balanced within system.

 

2.  In Treasury business front office is called Dealing Room.

 

3.  Exposure limits protect the bank from Credit Risk.

 

4.  The Counter party Risk is bankruptcy or inability of counter party to complete the transaction at their end.

 

5.  The exposure limits are fixed on the basis of the counter party’s net worth, market reputation and track record.

 

6.  RBI has imposed a ceiling of 5% of total business in a year with individual branches.

 

7.  Limits imposed are preventive measures to avoid or contain losses in adverse market conditions.

 

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8.  Trading limits are of three kinds, they are 1) Limits on deal size 2) Limits on open positions and 3) Stop loss limits.

 

9.  Open position refers to the trading positions, where the buy / sell positions are not matched.

 

10.  All the forward contracts are revalued periodically ( Every month )

 

11.  The stop loss limits prevent the dealer from waiting indefinitely and limit the losses to a level which is acceptable to the management.

 

12.  The Stop loss limits are prescribed per deal, per day, per month as also an aggregate loss limit per year.

 

13.  Two main components of market risk are Liquidity risk and Interest rate risk.

 

14.  Liquidity risk implies cash flow gaps which could not be bridged.

 

15.  Liquidity risk and Interest rate risk are like two sides of a coin.

 

16.  The Interest rate risk refers to rise in interest costs eroding the business profits or resulting in fall in assets prices.

 

17.  The interest rate risk is present where ever there is mismatch in assets and liabilities.

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18.  If the currency is convertible, the exchange rate and interest rate changes play greater role in attracting foreign investment inflows into the secondary market.

 

19.  Marker Risk is a confluence of liquidity risk, interest rate risk, Exchange rate risk, Equity risk and Commodity risk.

 

20.  BIS defines Market Risk as, “ The Risk that the value of on- or – off Balance Sheet positions will be adversely affected by movements in equity and interest rate markets, Currency exchange rates and Commodity prices”

 

21.  The Market Risk is closely connected with ALM.

 

22.  The Market Risk is also known as Price Risk. 

 

23.  Two important measures of risk are Value at Risk and Duration method.

 

24.  Value at Risk (VAR) at 95% confidence level implies a 5% probability of incurring the loss.

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25.  VAR is an estimate of potential loss always for a given period at a confidence level.

 

26.  There are three approaches to calculate the AVR i.e. Parametric Approach, Monte Carlo Approach and Historical Data.

 

27.  VAR is derived from a statistical formulae based on volatility of the market.

 

28.  Parametric Approach is based on sensitivity of various Risk components.

 

29.  Under Monte Carlo model a number of scenarios are generated at random and their impact on the subject is studied.

 

30. Duration is widely used in investment business.

 

31.  The rate at which the present value equals the market price of a bond is known as YTM.

 

32.  Yield & price of a bond moves in inverse proportion.

 

33.  Duration is weighted average measure of life of a bond, where the time of receipt of a cash flow is weighted by the present value of the cash flow.

 

34.  Duration method is also known as Mecalay Duration, its originator is Frederic Mecalay.

 

35.  Longer the duration, greater is the sensitivity of bond price to changes in interest rate.

 

36.  A proportionate change in prices corresponding to the change in yields is possible, only when the yield curve is linear.

 

37.  Derivatives are used to protect treasury transactions from Market Risk.

 

38.  Derivatives are also useful in managing Balance Sheet risk in ALM.

 

39.  Treasury transactions are of high value & relatively need low capital.

 

40.  Market movements are mainly due speculation.

 

41.  VAR is the maximum loss that may take place with in a time horizon at a given confidence level.

 

42.  Leverage is Capital Adequacy Ratio incase of companies it is expressed as Debt / Equity Ratio.

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UNIT – XV: DERIVATIVE PRODUCTS

 

1.  treasury uses derivatives to manage risk including ATL, to cater needs of corporate customers and to trade.

 

2.  The value of a Derivative is derived from on underlying market.

 

3.  Derivatives always refer to future price.

 

4.  The Derivatives that can be directly negotiated and obtained from banks and investment institutions are known as over the counter (OTC) products.

 

5.  Derivatives are of two types OTC products and Exchange traded products.

 

6.  The value of trade in OTC products is much larger than that of Exchange traded products.

 

7.  Derivative products can be broadly categorized into Options, Futures & Swaps.

 

8.  Options refer to contracts where the buyer of an Option has a right but no obligation to exercise the contract.

 

9.  Put Option gives a right to the holder to buy an underlying product at a pre-fixed rate on a specified date.

 

10.  Call option gives a right to the holder to sell the underlying product at a pre-fixed rate on a specified date or during a specified period.

 

11.  The pre-fixed rate is known as Strike Rate.

 

12.  Options are two types, an American type option can be executed at any time before expiry date and European type option can be exercised only on expiry date.  In India we use only European type of Option.

 

13.  A Dollar put Option gives right to the holder to sell Dollars.

 

14.  If the strike price is same as the spot price, it is known as at the money.

 

15.  The option is in the money (ITM), if the strike price is less than the forward rate in case of a Call Option or strike price is more than the forward rate in case of a put option.

 

 

 

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16.  The Option is out of Money (OTM) if the strike price is more than the forward rate in case of call option or if the strike price is less than forward rate in case of a put Option.

 

17.  In the context of Options spot rate is the rate prevailing on the date of maturity.

 

18.  The profit potential of buyer of an option is unlimited .

 

19.  The option seller’s potential loss is unlimited.

 

20.  Payment of differences between strike price & market price on expiry is known as cash settlement.

 

21.  The buyer of an option pays premium to the seller for purchase of Option.

 

22.  The option premium is paid upfront.

 

23.  A USD put Option on TJY is right to sell USD against JPY at ‘X’ price.

 

24.  A stock option is the right to buy or sell equity of a company at the strike price.

 

25.  Options are used to hedge against price fluctuations.

 

26.  A convertible option may be the bond holder option of converting the debt into equity on specified terms.

 

27.  A bond with call option gives right to the issuer to prepay the debt on specified date.

 

28.  Futures are forward contracts.

 

29.  Under Futures contract the seller agrees to deliver to the buyer specified security /  Currency or commodity on a specified date.

 

30.  Future Contracts are of standard size with prefixed settlement dates.

 

31.  A distinct feature of Futures is the contracts are marked to market daily and members are required to pay margin  equivalent to daily loss if any.

 

32.   In case of Futures the exchange guarantees all trades roughted through its members and in case of default or insolvency of any member the exchange will meet the payment out of its trade protection fund.

 

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33.  Currency Futures serve the same purpose as Forward Contracts, conventionally issued by banks in foreign exchange business.

 

34.  Futures are standardized and traded on exchanges but Forward Contracts are customized OTC Contracts.

 

35. The Futures can be bought only for fixed amounts and fixed periods.

 

36.  A Swap is an exchange of cash flow.

 

37.  An interest rate Swap is an exchange of interest flows on an underlying asset or liability.

 

38.  The cash flows representing the interest payments during the Swap period are exchanged.

 

39.  For USD the bench mark rates are generally LIBOR ( London Inter Bank Offer Rate)

 

40.  MIBOR is announced daily at 9.50 A.M by NSE.

 

41.  MIBOR is used as a base  rate for short term and Medium Term lending.

 

42.  Interest rate Swap is shifting of interest rate calculation from fixed rate to floating or floating rate to fixed rate or floating rate to floating rate.

 

43.  A Floating to Floating rate Swap involves change of bench mark.

 

44.  Quanto Swaps refer to paying interest in home currency at rate s applicable to foreign currency.

 

45.  Coupon Swaps refer to floating rate in one currency exchanged to fixed rate in another currency.

 

46.  In Indian Rupee market only plain vanilla type Swaps are permitted.

 

47.  A Currency Swap is an exchange of cash flow in one currency with that of another currency.

 

48.  The need for Currency Swap arises when loan raised in one currency is actually required to be used in another currency.

 

49.  The Interest rate Swaps (IRS) and Forward rate agreements (FRA) were first allowed by RBI in 1998.

 

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50.  Banks and counter parties need to execute ISDA master agreement before entering into any derivative contracts.

 

51.  A right to buy is Call Option and a right to Sell is Put Option.

 

52.  Swaps are used to minimize cost of borrowings and also to benefit from arbitrage in two currencies.

 

53.  Currency and interest rate Swaps with basic structure without in built positions or knock-out levels are plain vanills type Swaps.

 

UNIT – XVI : TREASURY AND ASSET LIABILITY MANAGEMENT

 

1.  The risks arise out of mismatch of Assets and Liabilities of the Bank.

 

2.  ALM is defined as protection of net worth of the Bank.

 

3.  Liquidity Risk translates into interest rate risk when the bank has to recycle the deposit funds or role over a credit on market determined terms.

 

4.  Liquidity implies a positive cash flow.

 

5.  The difference between sources and uses of funds in specific time band is known as Liquidity Gap which may be positive or negative.

 

6.  Interest rate risk is measured by the gap between interest rate sensitive asset and interest rate sensitive liability in a given time band.

 

7.  The Assets & Liabilities are rate sensitive when their value changes in reverse direction corresponding to a change in market rate of interest.

 

8.  The Gap management is only way of monitoring ALM.

 

9.  The Duration and Simulation methods are used to make ALM more effective.

 

10.  Derivatives are useful in reducing the Liquidity & Interest rate Risk.

 

11.  Derivatives replicate market movements.

 

12.  Derivatives can be used to hedge high value individual transactions.

 

13.  The Derivative transaction is independent of the banking transaction.

 

 

 

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14.  Treasury products such as Bonds & Commercial papers are subject to credit risk.

15.  Credit Risk in a loan & bond are similar, unlike a loan bond is tradable and hence it is more liquid asset.  

 

16.  Now a days the conventional credit is converted into tradable treasury product through Securitisation process by issue of PTC.

 

17.  Securitisation infuses liquidity into the issuing bank & frees blocked capital.

 

18.  Transfer pricing refers to fixing the cost of resources and return on Assets of the bank in a rational manner.

19.  In a multi branch transfer pricing is particularly useful to assess the branch profitability.

 

20.  ALM policy prescribes composition of ALCO & operational assets of ALM.

 

21.  Liquidity policy prescribes minimum liquidity to be maintained.

 

22.  Modern banking may be defined as Risk Intermediation.

 

23.  Market Risk comprises of Liquidity and interest rate risk.

 

24.  Banks are highly sensitive to liquidity risk as they can not afford to default or delay in meeting their obligations to depositors and other lenders.

 

25.  Liquidity & interest rate sensitivity gap are measured in specified time bands.

 

26.  Treasury connects core banking activity with financial markets.

 

27.  Derivatives and Options are used in managing the mismatches in bank’s Balance Sheet.

28.  Treasury is also responsible for transfer pricing.

 

29.  A situation where depositors of a bank lose confidence in the bank and withdraws their balances immediately is known as Run on the Bank.

 

30.  Securities that can be readily sold for cash in secondary markets are Liquefiable securities.

31.  Ratio of interest rate sensitive assets to rate sensitive liabilities is Sensitive Ratio.

 

32.  Capacity and willingness to absorb losses on account of market risk is Risk Appetite.

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UNIT – XI : TREASURY MANAGEMENT – SHORT NOTES

1.  The driving force of integrated treasury are:

 

A) Integrated cash flow management B) Interest arbitrage C) Investment opportunities D) Risk Management..  

 

2.  The functions of Integrated Treasury are:

 

    A) Meeting Reserve requirements B) Efficient Merchant services C) Global cash management D) Optimizing profit by exploiting market opportunities in Forex market, Money market and Securities market E) Risk management F) Assisting bank management in ALM.

 

3)  The immediate impact of globalization is three fold A) Interest rate B) New institutional structure C) Derivatives were allowed.

 

4)  RBI is allowing banks to borrow and invest through their overseas correspondents, in foreign currency upto 25% of their Tier – I capital or USD 10Million which amounts higher.

 

5)  Treasury products have become more attractive for two reasons  1) Treasury operations are almost free of credit risk and require very little capital allocation  and 2) Operation coats are low as compared to branching banking.

 

6.  Treasury generates profits from under noted businesses.

 

1) Conventional  A) Foreign exchange business and B) Money market deals.

2) Investment activities e.g. SLR, non – SLR & investment in Subsidiaries.

3) Interest Arbitrage.

4) Trading is a speculative activity, where profits arise out of favorable price movements during the interval between buying and selling.

 

7.  ARBITRAGE:  is the benefit accruing to traders, who play in different markets simultaneously.

 

8. DERIVATIVES are financial contracts to buy or sell or to exchange a cash flow in any manner at a future date, the price of which is based on market price of an underlying assets which may be financial or a real asset with or with out an obligation to exercise the contract.

 

9.  EMERGING MARKET COUNTRIES  are countries with a fast developing economy, which are largely market driven.

 

 

 

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10.  D-MAT ACCOUNTS are maintained by depository participants to hold securities in electronic form, so that transfer of securities can be affected by debit or credit to the respective account holders without any physical document.

 

UNIT – XIV : TREASURY RISK MANAGEMENT –  SHORT NOTES

 

1. Treasury Risk is sensitive because 1) The Risk of loosing capital is much higher than the risk in the credit business 2) Large size of transactions done at the discretion of treasurer 3) Losses in treasury business materialize in very short term and the transactions once confirmed are irrevocable.

 

2. The conventional control and supervisory measures of treasury can be divided in to three parts 1) Organizational controls 2) Exposure ceiling and 3) Limits on trading portions and stop loss limits.