RBI to formulate guidelines on forex derivatives
Amid reports of corporates making losses on hedging forex products other than dollar, the Reserve Bank may soon come out with guidelines on forex derivatives.
Amid reports of corporates making losses on hedging forex products other than dollar, the Reserve Bank may soon come out with guidelines on forex derivatives, which is widely expected to discourage banks from trading in foreign currencies other than in Rupee-Dollar.
"We are working on the guidelines of forex derivatives," an RBI spokesperson told PTI here.
The apex bank, however, made it clear that it has not issued any directive so far to banks trading on exotic forex products, which had reportedly resulted in making losses to corporates to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore.
"No such directions have been issued so far," RBI said in the wake of reports that several companies had opted for complex forex derivative products in the phase of steep appreciation in rupee.
Exotic hedging structures involve conversion of dollar receivables into other currencies like Swiss Franc or Japanese Yen, after taking a view on the movement of those currencies.
Corporates with export receivables hedge foreign currency exposures in a bid to prevent losses due to appreciation in Rupee.
However, companies started complaining when they suffered losses owing to appreciation of other currencies as well.
Private sector Yes Bank's Managing Director and CEO Rana Kapoor said, the corporate losses are due to lack of understanding among 'customers' about the hedging products.
"Corporates have been making profits through hedging in highly volatile foreign currencies and started making complaints when they met losses following steep appreciation in the currencies. They should have understood the product completely before hedging," Kapoor said.
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