Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject Economics - Finance, grade: 1,0, University of Westminster (Westminster Business School), course: International Risk Management , language: English, abstract: Since the 1970s futures contracts have proven a real success story, but in the course of the crisis, several futures-trading businesses went bankrupt. Because of a lack of trust, futures trading volumes started decreasing. But, even though the futures market has been adversely affected, futures contracts still serve as a fundamental risk management tool. This paper provides an insight into the use of futures contracts in risk management, trading on US exchanges. After a brief introduction to the topic of futures contracts, current literature will be reviewed. The literature review focuses primarily on current issues and developments on the futures market, while the third chapter explains step by step - based on an example of foreign exchange hedging - the use of futures contracts as well as how futures transactions are processes. Finally, the third chapter summarises relevant criteria a company has to reflect when considering to invest in futures contracts.

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject Business economics - Banking, Stock Exchanges, Insurance, Accounting, grade: 81%, University of Westminster (Westminster Business School), language: English, abstract: This paper examines the role of currency futures contracts in risk management. The reader can find a brief introduction to the history of foreign exchange markets and under which cir-cumstances the markets appeared in 1970s. Furthermore, the question of why to use currency futures to hedge risk exposures is answered. A more in-depth analysis of how currency futures contracts are structured, especially their specifications and their advantages and limi-tations for the user. Moreover this paper addresses issue of how currency futures are used by participants. Finally, a brief use of currency futures is also examined with a case study on the FX-market.

March 1995 Financial futures have become the cornerstone of financial management. The paper explains the contractual features of an array of financial futures, basic pricing relationships, and how futures can be used by investors and risk managers. Mas and Saá-Requejo explain the features of an array of futures contracts and their basic pricing relationships and describe a few applications to show how investors and risk managers can use these contracts. Futures -- and derivatives generally -- allow economic agents to fine-tune the structure of their assets and liabilities to suit their risk preferences and market expectations. Futures are not a financing or investment vehicle per se, but a tool for transferring price risks associated with fluctuations in asset values. Some may use them to spread risk, others to take on risk. Financial futures (along with options) are best viewed as building blocks. Futures have facilitated the modern trend of separating conventional financial products into their basic components. They allow not only the reduction or transformation of investment risk but also the understanding and measurement of risk. The market for derivatives has grown enormously over the past decade. The value of exchange-traded eurodollar derivatives (futures and options) is equal to roughly 13 times the value of the underlying market. The volume of trading in financial futures now dwarfs the volume in traditional agricultural contracts. As emerging markets develop, given their inherently risky nature, expect financial futures to play a prominent role in risk management. This paper -- a product of the Private Provision of Public Services Unit, Private Sector Development Department -- is part of a larger effort in the department to promote risk management techniques in emerging markets.