Management of foreign exchange risk

the long version

Listen in to the discussion at almost any gathering of company treasurers today, whether it be a small private meeting or a larger conference or convention, and it is a reasonable bet that you will hear the members debating and arguing about one prevailing subject: foreign exchange risk and its management. Add bankers to the group, and the subject will remain the same, but this time the odds are that the two sides will be trying to learn as much as possible from each other and in particular their respective views on exchange rate movements in the future. The reason for this current pre-occupation with this particular problem is not difficult to track down. It is not, as many commentators have imagined and asserted, that both company treasurers and bankers are obsesed with finding new ways of making quick and easy profits, and that they find the currency market of today ideal for that purpose. It is not that they are all inherently speculators, and find themselves in a world where, because of the instability of currency markets and the massive amount of short-term liquidity available for the purpose, speculation is possible on a vast scale. The reason is quite the reverse, andin fact, much more mundane.