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The 2007 BIS Triennial Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange and Derivatives Market Activity Report shows a substantial increase in turnover in foreign exchange and OTC derivatives markets. Turnover in traditional FX markets increased to reach $3.2 trillion. The largest contributor to this 71% increase between April 2004 and April 2007 occurred in FX swaps. It was like a prelude to the financial crisis of 2007–2008 driven by transactions carried out between banks and other financial institutions due to the significance of hedge funds and major engagement of emerging market currencies which have sought new configurations of portfolio diversification worldwide.

This study examines the foreign currency derivatives trading of KOSDAQ firms and analyses the relations of derivatives trading and foreign exchange rate exposure in the period 2005~2010. The amount of derivatives trading reaches 27.7% of total assets for the trading firms before global financial crisis period (2005~2007). While, the amount decreases to 17.6% of total assets during the crisis period (2008~2010). These amounts are much greater than those of KOSPI firms which are calculated using similar data specification and periods. The variables which are usually adopted as determinants of derivatives trading do not explain the usage of derivatives in the analysis of period 2005~2007. These results suggest that KOSDAQ firms use derivatives not only foreign exchange risk managements but also trading purposes during this period. Test results do not show sufficient evidence that KOSDAQ firms use derivatives trading in an effective manner to manage foreign exchange rate exposure. In sum, test results suggest that to achieve the goal of managing foreign exchange rate exposure firms should estimate their open position in foreign currency properly before conducting foreign currency derivatives trading.

The purpose of this study is to delineate the factors influencing the use of financial derivatives by non-financial firms in managing their exchange rate exposure. In total, 219 non-financial firms are surveyed in regard to their financial hedging decision.

This study is conducted via a survey and the questionnaires were sent to the treasurers and financial controller of the firms. Descriptive analysis is employed to assess the profiles of the respondents. Then, factor analysis is carried out to determine the factors influencing the use of financial derivatives in Malaysia.

The results indicate that the hedging decision of non-financial firms is influenced by their assertive level toward the market and regulators and also how flexible they are for derivative instruments. The intellectual capability that firms acquire to perform hedging strategies is also vital in influencing them to make hedging decision.

The insights of this survey would assist and prepare firms to hedge their exchange rate risk by employing financial derivatives. Knowing the influences of firms' adoption of currency derivatives would allow policy makers to formulate their policies in boosting the liquidity of Malaysian derivative market.

This study presents findings on the factors influencing the execution of financial hedging by non-financial firms in Malaysia. Survey data are used to seek for the feedback from the market players in order to provide empirical evidence on the corporate use of financial hedging.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors affecting firms' decision to use foreign exchange (FX) derivative instruments by using the data of 86 non‐financial firms listed on Karachi Stock Exchange for the period 2004‐2007.

Required data were collected from annual reports of listed firms of Karachi Stock Exchange. Non‐parametric test was used to examine the mean difference between users and non‐users operating characteristics. Logit model was applied to analyze the impact of firm's financial distress costs, underinvestment problem, tax convexity, profitability, managerial ownership and foreign exchange exposure on firms' decision to use FX derivative instruments for hedging.

Results explain that firms having higher foreign sales are more likely to use FX derivative instruments to reduce exchange rate exposure. Moreover, financially distressed large‐size firms with financial constraints and fewer managerial holdings are more likely to use FX derivatives.

Incomplete financial instrument disclosure requirements restricted researchers to using binary variable as a dependent variable instead of notional value or fair value of derivative usage.

The study shows that in the presence of amateur derivative market, Pakistani corporations possessing higher agency costs of debt, agency costs of equity, and financial constraints will benefit more by defining hedging policies coherent with the firm's investment and financing policies in order to enhance firm value.

Until now, no earlier empirical study focused on the determinants of a firm's hedging policies in Pakistan, in the presence of volatile exchange rates,. The current study, therefore, attempts to identify the factors which affect the firm's decision to use derivative instruments for hedging FX exposure of non‐financial firms in Pakistan.

The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of founder families in medium‐sized manufacturing firms and to investigate the impact of such influence on risk management – more specifically foreign exchange hedging and speculation.

This empirical study uses survey data and publicly available data for descriptive analysis and ordinary least squares/ordered regression analysis.

The authors find that two thirds of medium‐sized manufacturing firms are founder family firms in which the founder of the firm or members of his/her family are active in the management team, are members of the board of directors, and/or are shareholders of the firm. The study finds no difference between such founder family firms and other firms in terms of the use/non‐use decision related to foreign exchange derivatives but a marked difference in terms of the extent decision. Thus, founder family firms tend not only to hedge but also to speculate more extensively than other firms.

The findings are based on medium‐sized manufacturing firms in Denmark.

This study provides empirical evidence on the influence of founder families in medium‐sized firms and adds to the sparse literature on the impact of founder family influence on risk management.

Auditors nowadays must be aggressive and involved in risk assessment and analysis. This paper identifies, analyzes, and recommends a solution to a current problem in accounting for foreign‐currency hedges. This is accomplished by an examination of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 133, Accounting for Derivatives Instruments and Hedging Activities, as issued in June 1998. Multi‐currency accounting is recommended as an alternative to functional‐currency accounting. The information generated by the multi‐currency versus the functional currency (as advocated in the SFAS 133) accounting methods for using options as hedging instruments is illustrated. Multi‐currency accounting excels in its transparency. It more clearly provides information on the respective exposure positions of the hedged items and the hedging instruments as well as the notional amounts. Auditors’ risk assessment and analysis can now be effectively performed under this system.

Theoretical studies suggest that hedging helps firms to reduce their financial distress costs and underinvestment problem especially if the markets are imperfect. Hence hedging, through the use of currency derivatives, is one of the important financial policies for firms. The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the determinants of derivatives usage by Indian firms using financial disclosures on currency derivatives by non-financial constituents of S&P CNX 500 for 2009.

We manually collect the data on foreign currency derivatives from firms’ annual reports for 2009 and then follow Haushalter’s (2000) approach to examine the determinants of firms’ decision to hedge. A firm can make its hedging decision at once, deciding whether to hedge and how much to hedge. Given the nature of dependent variable that is censored, it is appropriate to use Tobit regression. A firm can also decide its hedging decision in two steps by deciding first on whether to hedge and later how much to hedge. The former is modelled by probit regression and later by conditional regression.

Our empirical evidence suggests that forwards are the main instruments for managing currency risk followed by options and swaps. The objectives, in the order of priority, are reduction in exposure associated with foreign currency receivables, foreign currency long-term loans and foreign currency payables. Firm’s decision to hedge is positively related to size, foreign exchange exposure and leverage, while negatively related to liquidity and investment opportunities. We find evidence of higher derivative usage by firms with both higher currency risk and higher financial distress costs.

The findings of this paper will help corporates, researchers and regulators to understand firms’ motives behind hedging.

This is the first empirical study that examines the determinants of firm’s decision to hedge and the extent of hedging in the context of emerging economies like India.

This paper investigates the motivations and practice of nonfinancial firms with regard to using options in their risk management activities.

The paper provides a comprehensive account of the existing empirical evidence and analyzes data on the use of derivatives in general and options in particular by nonfinancial corporations across different underlyings and countries.

Overall, a significant number of 15‐25 per cent of the firms outside the financial sector use options. This reflects the fact that options are very versatile risk management instruments that can be used to hedge various types of exposures, linear as well as nonlinear. In particular, options are a useful component of corporate risk management if exposures are uncertain, e.g. due to price and quantity risk. Depending on the correlation between price and quantity risk, the optimal hedge portfolio consists of a varying combination of linear and nonlinear risk management instruments. Moreover, the accounting treatment as well as liquidity effects can impact the choice of derivative. At the same time, there may be agency‐related incentives to use options because of their role to present dual bets on both direction as well as future volatility of the underlying.

The findings are important with regards to assessing whether the full potential of derivative financial instruments is being realized, since not all firms use these instruments and not all of them use all types and, more importantly, whether they are used appropriately.

The paper provides an up‐to‐date analysis of the motivations for nonfinancial firms to use financial derivatives in general and options in particular as well as comprehensively characterizes the extent of their use in practice.

This paper aims to examine the state of risk management practices among Malaysian listed firms and evaluates the value‐relevance of the notional amount of foreign‐exchange and interest‐rate derivatives (FCDs) used by listed firms over the period 2003‐2007.

Application of linear regression framework.

It is found that a few Malaysian firms hedge market risks. Firms in the plantation, industrial product, trading services, and consumer products manufacturing sectors are the main users of the FCDs in Malaysia. There is a significant positive correlation between total earnings and the use of derivatives. The findings seem to suggest that although disclosed notional amount of the derivatives have value‐relevance but its contribution to a firm's valuation is very minimal in Malaysia compared to other countries.

The findings imply that those investors who have investment in those firms who use derivatives to hedge against foreign currency and interest risks benefit, albeit marginally. At present, most of the Malaysian firms are either cautious or unsure about the use of derivative instruments. There is a need to inform managers about usefulness of the derivatives and market risk reporting that would contribute to greater financial transparency.

The author believes that this is the first study to provide survey findings on the use of derivatives instruments and their value‐relevance in Malaysia.

In the last two decades, a number of studies have examined the risk management practices within nonfinancial companies. For instance, some studies report on the use of derivatives by nonfinancial firms. Yet, another group of researchers has investigated the determinants of corporate hedging policies. These and other studies of similar focus have made important contributions to the literature. This study sheds light on derivatives use and risk management practices in the UK market.

This paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey, which focused on determining the reasons for using or not using derivatives for 401 UK nonfinancial companies. Furthermore, it investigates the extent to which derivatives are used, and how they are used.

The results indicate that larger firms are more likely to use derivatives than medium and smaller firms, public companies are more likely to use derivatives than private firms, and derivatives usage is greatest among international firms. The results also show that, of firms not using derivatives, half of firms do not use these derivative instruments because their exposures are not significant and that the most important reasons they do not use derivatives are: concerns about disclosures of derivatives activity required under FASB rules, and costs of establishing and maintaining derivatives programmes exceed the expected benefits. The results show that foreign exchange risk is the risk most commonly managed with derivatives and interest rate risk is the next most commonly managed risk. The results also indicate that the most important reason for using hedging with derivatives is managing the volatility in cash flows.

As with other survey research, a major limitation is that responses might represent personal opinions. We cannot verify that the opinions coincide with actions. We suggest that further research could improve the understanding of firms’ derivatives use by including more detailed data, different time spans, and larger samples.

To highlight the extent of derivatives usage and risk management practices in UK nonfinancial companies.