Financial Derivatives – Associateship
ISQ Examination (Winter-2006)

Q.1    State True or False in the answer column. Give brief reason for your selection at the space           provided below the question:                                                                                         (07)

                                                                                                                                               (Answer)

i
The value of a call option on a share increases with the price of the share.
 
ii
The payoff on expiry of a future on a currency is the same as that of an option on the same currency.
 
iii
The delta of an option measures the sensitivity of the options value with respect to the price of the underlying.
 
iv
Vega measures the sensitivity of an option with respect to the risk-free interest rate.
 
v
An upward sloping yield curve shows that the market expects the interest rates to rise.
 
vi
An option is priced by discounting the expected payoff at the risk-free rate.
 
vii
A perfect hedge is one that completely eliminates the risk.
 

Q.2    Please write the alphabate of selected choice in the answer column:                            (18)
                                                                                                                                                 (Answer)

i

A call option on a stock with 3 months to maturity has a premium of Rs. 10. The strike price is Rs. 40. The continuous risk free rate is 0.022 and the current stock price is Rs. 39. Calculate the price of a put on the same stock with the same strike price and the same time to maturity.

A) 10.78      B) 9.78          C) 11.78              D) 8.78
E) None of the above

 
ii

An option strategy to buy a call and a put on the same underlying, with the same strike price, with the same expiration date is known as:

A) Box spread        B) Butterfly spread          C) Straddle
D) Strangle             E) None of the above

 
iii
A futures option is

A) a future on an option           B) an option on a futures contract
C) a simple futures contract     D) there is no such thing as a futures option
 
iv

A call option where the asset price is greater than the strike price is known as:

A) in-the-money option          B) out-of-the-money option
C) at-the-money option          D) under-the-money option
E) below-the-money option

 
v

An exchange of a fixed rate of interest on a certain notional principal for a floating rate of interest on the same notional principal is know as:

A) Exchange derivative         B) Exotic option       C) Interest rate swap
D) Swaption                         E) Binary option

 
vi

For a call option if the value of the underlying asset is greater than the strike price what will the difference between the asset price and the strike price called:

A) Actual value         B) Real value                 C) Original value
D) Intrinsic value       E) None of the above

 
vii

The value of the volatility of an asset calculated from the market price of an exchange traded option is known as:

A) Implied volatility                    B) Garch volatility
C) Arbitrage volatility       D) Risk-free volatility      E) Integrated volatility

 
viii

For a floating rate payer in an interest rate swap agreement

A) The value is found by subtracting the value of a floating rate bond from a       fixed rate bond.
B) The value is found by subtracting the value of a fixed rate bond from a      floating rate bond.
C) By calculating the difference between each payment and summing the      differences.
D) By calculating a forward curve and adding up the rates.
E) None of the above

 
ix

An option with a clause to exercise anytime before and on the date of expiry is know as

A) European option        B) Asian option
C) American option        D) Hong Kong option         E) Australian option

 
x

Black-Scholes-Merton model assumes which distribution for the stock price

A) Pareto distribution                    B) Poisson distribution
C) Lognormal distribution             D) Exponential distribution
E) None of the above

 
xi

A method of insuring a portfolio that has more or less the same mix as the market index is:

A) Buying an index put option             B) Selling an index put option
C) Buying a treasury bill of 6 months to maturity
D) Buying and selling a call and a put of the same characteristics
E) None of the above

 
xii

Max[(S-X),0]
S = Stock price at maturity
X = Strike price
The above is the payoff of a:

A) A European put option             B) A European call option
C) A long futures contract             D) A short futures contract
E) None of the above

 
xiii

A tree where each nodes extends to two other nodes is known as:

A) A gamma tree        B) A trinomial tree           C) A risk-neutral tree
D) A delta tree           E) A binomial tree

 
xiv

A trading strategy that takes advantage of two or more securities being miss priced relative to each other is known as:

A) Hedging        B) Cut and exit           C) Arbitrage
D) Long on a bounce             E) Short on a break

 
xv

The sensitivity of an option with respect to the interest rate is known as:

A) Delta      B) Gamma       C) Vega       D) Theta          E) Rho

 
xvi

The delta of a derivative is 1.5. The price of the underlying asset is expected to move by Rs. 10 in the next month. What is the expected value of the derivative in the next month assuming all else remain constant?

A) Rs. 11.5      B) Rs. 12.5         C) Rs. 13.5      D) Rs. 15      E) Rs. 17

 
xvii

An instrument whose price depends on, or is derived from, the price of another asset is known as a:

A) Treasury bill             B) Equity              C) Fixed income security
D) Commercial paper                 E) Derivative

 
xviii

The average increase per unit of time in a stochastic variable is known as the:

A) Drift rate           B) Volatility                    C) Covariance
D) Delta                E) Standard deviation

 

Q.3     Briefly describe following with at least one business example:                              (08)

           A) Forwards       B) Futures         C) Options              D) Swaps

Q.4      Suppose that Zero interest rates are as follows:                                                    (04)

                                                Maturity                      Rate
                                                (months)                   (% p.a.)

3                             8.00
6                             8.20
9                             8.40
12                           8.50
15                           8.60
18                           8.70

               Calculate forward interest rates for the second, third, fourth and sixth quarter.

Q.5        What is the difference between Forward and Future market. Briefly describe main components of Future Market. (06)

Q.6          Briefly describe the Regulatory frame work governing derivative business for commercial banks in Pakistan. (06)

Q.7           Is there any difference between Interest Rate Swaps and Forward Rate Agreement ? Support your answer with technical arguments. (06)

Q.8          An importer wants to hedge Pound Sterling payment of 1,000,000 which is due in one months time. Market shows following information

Spot GBP/USD                                   1.8900
Forward Premium GBP / USD             0.00075
Option premium                                   0.011 pence
Option strike price                               1.895

If you expect that the Pound Sterling rate against USD would be 1.91 at the time of the payment. Give advise to your customer what alternatives he has to hedge his payment and what will he gain or loose in each alternative. (05)

Q.9        You write a put contract with a strike price of Rs. 40 / share with an expiration period of 3 months. You charged an upfront premium of Rs. 1 / share. What is your gain / lose if price is at Rs. 50/share on maturity date. (05)

Q.10        Your customer wants to borrow Rs. 100 million after 3 months for 6 months. The yield curve and forward curve show an upward slope, as given below, and its expected that the rate would be at 12% mean. What would you advise to your customer and why? You may use the information given below to support your answer. (05)

3 months        11.5%
9 months        12.5%

Q.11        Your customer has borrowed Rs. 100 million in 1 year term loan at 12% fixed rate payable semiannually. You are also running a mismatch position and financing the above loan from 6 months deposits / borrowings that is attached to 6 months KIBOR. Will you suggest some hedging strategy to your management or let the situation be as is basis. Show your calculations and give numerical evidence of viability of the hedging solution using the information given below. (10)

Term                        KIBOR Rate
6 months                       11.225%
1 year                           11.45%
1.5 years                      11.88%

               1 year zero-coupon yield = 10%

Q.12       Financial Derivative Business Regulation of State Bank of Pakistan stated: (20)

“Internal trading limits set up duly approved by the respective Board of Directors (in case of locally incorporated entities) or head office/regional office (in case of entities incorporated outside Pakistan) these limits should be inline with the capital structure of each institution and its risk appetite on such position at a minimum the position limit may be expressed in terms of Price Value per Basis Point (PVBP) or Value at Risk (VaR) of the portfolio and supplemented by stop loss level on a monthly basis”

    Describe & comments on the above requirements.