Korea's Asiana Airlines is looking to enter interest-rate swaps to hedge floating interest-rate exposure on its U.S. dollar-denominated loan portfolio. C.S. Han, general manager-finance, said the airline wants to take advantage of current low interest rates. It has already hedged 40% of its U.S. dollar interest rate exposure over the past year, and plans to hedge the remaining USD1.3 billion of its dollar denominated liabilities.
In swap transactions foreign banks require Asiana to use local banks as intermediaries, such as the Korean Development Bank or Kookmin Bank. Potential counterparties include BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank, said Han. Officials at BNP and Deutsche Bank declined comment.
