The Asian structured foreign exchange derivatives market has picked up steam in recent weeks due to the greenback's fall against other major world currencies. "Given the recent dramatic movement in the fx market, we're seeing a lot of inquiries," said Samir Atassi, director in the strategic solutions group at Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong. For instance, Atassi noted that several companies are now looking at hedging their yen exposure as they tend to have revenues in dollars. Much of the outstanding yen liabilities are a result from bilateral loans from Japanese export agencies in markets such as China and South East Asia. "A lot of corporates weren't expecting such a rapid fall," he added.
June 02, 2003
