8006 Exam Dumps - Exam I: Finance Theory Financial Instruments Financial Markets - 2015 Edition

A fixed for floating interest rate swap would be the most appropriate to the company's needs. It will allow it to receive a fixed rate (which will offset the fixed payment it has to make on the loan) and pay a floating rate which it expects will be lower than the fixed rates. Choice 'a' is the correct answer.

Answer:

A repo, or a repurchase agreement, is the lending of securities in return for cash, with an agreement to buy the securities back at a later date at the borrowed amount plus interest. It is a form of collateralized borrowing. A 'reverse repo' is exactly the opposite of a repo transaction, ie where cash is lent and securities borrowed. Therefore Choice 'b' is the correct answer. In any repo transaction, the counterparty will therefore always have a 'reverse repo' position.

A reverse repo is a useful transaction - not merely for the purpose of lending short term funds, but more importantly to enable short positions. For example, if an investor wishes to short a bond, he can borrow the bond on a 'reverse repo' and sell it. Of course, he will have to return the bond when the reverse repo matures, but hopefully by that time prices of the bond would have fallen to allow him to do so profitably. Short positions in physical bonds are nearly always facilitated by reverse repos.