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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of currency risks on the financial performance of multilateral banks (MBs). Financial performance is measured here by after-tax accounting profitability or losses.

Quantitative hypothesis regarding the impact of currency risks on the financial performance of MBs was tested by a two-tailed t test for significance of the b regression coefficient.

A regression analysis was done on the total currency risk and financial performance of MBs after taking into account currency risk over eight years. The analysis of variance of the regression of the b coefficient led to non-rejection of the null hypothesis of no association, F(1, 6) = 0.77, p > 0.05. The results of the two-tailed t test on the b regression coefficient suggest that the relationship between currency risk and financial performance is statistically insignificant. Therefore, it was concluded that there is no significant impact of currency risk on the financial performance of MBs.

The results of the study can be generalized only for MBs given their peculiar characteristics as wholesale banks, which are owned mainly by governments and are generally not listed on stock exchanges.

The study is of value to those interested in the multilateral banking industry. To the authors’ knowledge it is the first study providing empirical evidence on currency risk impact on MBs financial performance. The study finds that the currency risk impact on the financial performance of MBs is insignificant. The results are also useful to managers of MBs in terms of benchmarking their effectiveness in managing currency risk compared to their peers and learn from better performers. It has also policy implications in terms of justifying the current self-regulatory status, shareholder monitoring and governance of MBs as they are not significantly impacted by currency risk as it appears to be effectively managed.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which multilateral banks (MBs) use currency derivatives (CDs) to hedge and speculate in managing currency risk. It aims to provide an empirical assessment of CDs products used by MBs as a group not studied before.

Quantitative hypothesis regarding the usage of CDs to minimize adverse impact of currency risk was tested using z test about population proportion.

The results show that MBs are using CDs in the following order of importance: currency swaps, currency forwards, currency options and currency futures primarily to hedge currency risk.

The results of the study can be generalized only for MBs, given their peculiar characteristics as wholesale banks, which are owned mainly by governments and are generally not listed in the stock exchanges.

The study is of value to those interested in the multilateral banking industry. The authors acknowledge that it is the first study providing empirical evidence on CDs’ usage by MBs as a group. The results are particularly useful to managers of MBs in terms of helping them to make choices in usage of CDs. The paper has also policy implications in terms of justifying the current self-regulatory status, shareholder monitoring and governance of MBs, as they do not speculate with CDs.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which the size of multilateral banks (MBs) influences their usage of currency derivatives to manage currency risk. It provides an empirical assessment of whether economies of scale and scope found in other studies apply to MBs.

A quantitative hypothesis regarding the relationship of the size of MBs to their usage of currency derivatives was tested using regression, correlation and analysis of variance.

The results show that there is a significant positive relationship between size (as measured by total assets) of MBs and the total principal amounts of currency derivatives used. These results suggest that MBs are enjoying economies of scale and scope in using currency derivatives in managing currency risk.

The data used were obtained from annual reports that may not fully provide relevant information that could influence the usage and size of currency derivatives. Future studies may therefore use surveys to obtain data to conduct multivariate regression analysis to provide further insights on other determinants of currency derivatives usage.

The study is of value to those interested in multilateral banking. It breaks new ground by using non-survey method for the first time in investigating the relationship between size and currency derivatives used by MBs. The results are also useful for financial institutions selling currency derivative products to MBs in identifying which to target. For managers of small MBs it may be cost effective for them to use internal hedging techniques as economies of scale applies in currency derivative markets. The results of the study are also useful to policy and regulation of MBs.