Accredited Africa Training Institute for Capacity Development

Accredited Africa Training Institute for Capacity Development - Providing International Training Courses in South Africa

Foreign Exchange, Money Markets and Derivatives

Why Attend

The global foreign exchange (FX) and money markets are the world’s largest markets and pivotal parts of the financial system.  In foreign exchange alone, more than $5 trillion of transactions occur daily. These markets provide funding, trading and investment opportunities and are the conduit between all other components of the world’s capital markets. In recent years, the importance of the money markets has become even greater as financial institutions focus more closely on the management and diversification of their sources of liquidity, apply greater discipline to their funding and examine the attractions of short term investment and trading strategies.

This course provides a strong foundation on the instruments and activities of the international money and FX markets; it focuses on the current profile of the markets and offers insights based on the lessons learned from the 2007-09 financial crisis as well as the latest market developments.

Moreover, the course emphasizes the integrated nature of FX, money markets and derivatives. Mastering the mechanics and usages of such instruments provides excellent opportunities for arbitrage, hedging and risk management for those engaged in corporate treasury functions, commercial banks, and asset management companies. The course also analyses the liquidity characteristics and risks of different instruments and funding strategies.

Course Methodology

This course uses a wide range of learning methods, including explanatory slides, case studies, a detailed examination of Excel models in an interactive workshop style environment and others.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

  • Develop a deep understanding of the FX market, its mechanics and major participants
  • Analyze the role and impact of central banks on FX and money markets
  • Examine the nature of money supply, open market operations and quantitative easing
  • Demonstrate a thorough understanding of liquidity, capital adequacy, and solvency
  • Apply analytical skills to key financial products within global money markets
  • Explain the logic and uses of financial derivatives – forwards, swaps and options
  • Develop an understanding of key strands of financial risk management

Target Audience

This course is suitable for all those working within the banking industry, including wealth managers, auditors, accountants, finance specialists, risk managers, and treasury and product control professionals.  It is also suitable for those working with financial services and incorporate finance positions.

Target Competencies

  • Exchange rate and interest rate risk best practices
  • Analyzing  unorthodox policies
  • Global money, FX markets, and capital flows
  • Thought leadership

Location:

South Africa

Training Dates:

Each course starts every Monday of each week. Please book your training on a date that is a Monday.

Course Duration:

Unit Standard:

NQF Level:

Number of Credits:


Course Fees

Note: Please fill in the online application form on the left or bottom if this page to receive a quotation with detailed pricing from AATICD.

How to Apply:

To Apply Simply Fill in the Online Enquiries / Applications form on the Right Sidebar or Bottom of this website https://www.aaticd.co.za

NB:

When filling the online application form; please take note of your desired Training Month, Duration in Weeks and Training Session. This will give us the exact dates you will be attending your classes.

Also note that Tuition Fees must be paid upfront on or before training start date. This is to ensure that all resources are made availabe for you before you start. You will not be allowed into training if fees are not paid and verified.

Also note that Tuition Fees Cancellations must be made 14 business working days before the starting date of training. This will allow us to do a 50% refund of the total amount paid. If cancellations are made thereafter note that no refund will be made to delegates.

Tuition Fees include teas and lunch as well as either a laptop or tablet which a delegate will take home free of charge.

Tuition Fee DOES NOT include Accommodation, Dinners and other Extra Curricular Activities or Incidentals. Delegates are expected to fund this on their own. AATICD will not be held accountable for any incidents to delegates.

In-House Trainings are also available for 3 or more delegates for any duration. Please consult with our Administration for such In-House training bookings.


Course Outline

  • The interface of money markets and foreign exchange (FX)
    • Size of the markets
    • Issuance of Treasury instruments, repurchase agreements, bankers acceptances, commercial paper
    • Overview of the Euromarkets
    • London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR)
    • Treasury bill issuance in different jurisdictions
    • The mechanics of the Repo market
    • Forward rates for interest rate and FX
    • Effective yields when risk-adjusted for FX exposures
    • Arbitrage and interest rate parity
    • Current market conditions
    • Risk premia, key money markets spreads and currency outlook
  • Role of central banks in the financial system
    • Overview of central banks
      • Federal Reserve
      • European Central Bank
      • People’s Bank of China
      • Bank of Japan
      • Bank of England
    • Structure of a central bank balance sheet
    • Characteristics of the central bank’s assets and liabilities
    • Lender of last resort
    • Summary of Open Market Operations
    • Unorthodox monetary policy including quantitative easing (QE)
    • Independence of central banks
    • Financial stability and macro-prudential policy
    • Forward guidance and transparency of decision making
    • Management of FX reserves and exchange rate policy
    • Nature of payments systems – real-time gross settlement systems (RTGS), net settlement, Fedwire, Target2
  • Monetary policy and money supply
    • Overview of the policy committees
      • Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)
      • Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England (MPC of BOE)
      • European Central Bank (ECB Governing Council)
      • The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) governance
    • Overview of the money supply
    • Monetary tools and how they impact the money supply
    • How is money created in a modern economy
    • Inflation targeting
    • Central bank reserves
    • Explanation of the Taylor rule
    • The term structure of interest rates
  • Foreign exchange market characteristics
    • Size of market, volumes, participants, major currency pairs
    • Regional breakdown of where and when most FX trading takes place
    • The key role of the London market in FX trading
    • Historical background to today’s FX market
    • Role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Special Drawing Rights (SDR)
    • Global FX reserves
    • Review of several key historical FX rates
    • Price of gold and relationship to the US Dollar index
  • Interest rate (IR) swaps
    • Basic structures and terminology of swaps
    • The business case for using IR swaps
    • Contrast money market rates and IR swap rates
    • The notion of a swap as an aggregation of forwarding rate agreements
    • Pricing the fixed leg and interpreting the swap markets
    • Counterparty risk
    • Recognition that credit valuation adjustment (CVA) is an integral part of trading practices and pricing of derivatives and not just a regulatory (Basel) issue
    • Over-The-Counter (OTC) market versus Swap Execution Facilities (SEF’s)
    • Collateralized OTC trades versus margin-based Central Clearing Party (CCP) platforms
    • Netting arrangements
  • Credit default swaps (CDS)
    • Terminology – protection buyer/seller, reference entity,
    • Naked CDS positions
    • The contrast between a CDS and a financial insurance contract
    • Equating actual and contingent payments
    • Inputs to model – default probabilities, loss given default (LGD), forward curve
    • Sovereign and corporate markets
    • Single name CDS versus basket products, nth to default structures
    • Determination of a credit event
    • Recent amendments to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) protocols on the determination of credit events
    • ISDA protocols
  • Using derivatives for general hedging purposes
    • Key concepts of hedging equity and fixed income risk with derivatives
    • Using index futures and options to hedge an equity portfolio
    • Hedge ratio calculation for equity futures
    • Calculating portfolio beta
    • Options strategies
    • Using forwards to hedge forex risk
    • Using swaps to hedge credit risk
    • Using variance swaps to hedge volatility risk
  • Asset/liability management and the treasury function
    • Interest rate risks
    • Market risk i.e. re-valuation of bank holdings from changes in interest rates
    • Accounting issues related to fair value accounting
    • Duration gap analysis
    • Interest rate forecasting
    • Review of inflation-protected securities
    • Estimating the Term Liquidity Premium in money markets
    • Funds Transfer Pricing (FTP) mechanics
    • Contingency buffers for liquidity risk management
    • Funding Value Adjustment (FVA)
    • Bank funding curves
    • Applying the correct FTP charges for strategic balance sheet management
  • The global regulatory framework
    • Overview of the Basel III framework
    • Key provisions of Basel III related to market risk, credit risk, liquidity risk, and operational risk
    • Pillars 2 and 3 of Basel accords and the role of central banks as supervisors
    • Contrast macro-prudential policy initiatives with traditional micro-prudential
    • Pro-cyclical and counter-cyclical risk management
    • Dodd Frank Act and Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), Volcker rule
    • Regulatory investigations into market abuse
    • USA – the Federal Reserve, Treasury, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
    • UK – Bank of England, Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), Financial Conduct Authority
    • European Union – ECB, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)
    • Transnational – Bank for International Settlements (BIS), Global Financial Stability Board, etc.
    • Sarbanes-Oxley – risk disclosure, stringent accounting requirements, impact on IT policies
    • Volcker Rule – restrictions on activities/structure of banks

Scroll to Top