Question：What is meant by structural hedging?

　　A. Trying to ensure as far as possible that a company has matching amounts of assets and liabilities in any currency, so as to reduce currency exposures.

　　B. Carrying out an annual review of the organisation's risks, and planning a risk management strategy to deal with them.

　　C. Using the financial derivatives markets to hedge exposures to financial risks.

　　D. Managing the financial gearing of the company, to ensure that the company is always in a position to meet its debt payment obligations and have scope for further borrowing if needed.

　　The correct answer is: Trying to ensure as far as possible that a company has matching amounts of assets and liabilities in any currency, so as to reduce currency exposures.

　　解析：Structural hedging is a form of hedging currency risks through matching. Matching involves setting receipts in one currency against expenditures in the same currency: if these match exactly, currency risk is eliminated. Structural hedging is concerned with matching assets and liabilities in any currency. For example, if a manufacturing company has large amounts of income in US dollars, it should site its production facilities in the US or a country whose currency is tied to the US dollar.

　　Question：Which of the following risks would normally be classified as strategic risks for a company trading overseas, which has contracted its manufacturing operations to a foreign manufacturer?

　　A. A failure by the overseas manufacturer to supply finished goods in time for the peak sales season

　　B. The exhaustion of oil supplies in the country that has been supplying the company with all its oil

　　C. A change in a foreign government leading to nationalisation of the company's interests in that country

　　D. A temporary fall in the value of the company's home country currency

　　The correct answers are: A change in a foreign government leading to nationalisation of the company's interests in that country; The exhaustion of oil supplies in the country that has been supplying the company with all its oil.

　　A temporary fall in the value of the company's home country currency and a failure by the overseas manufacturer to supply finished goods in time for the peak sales season are examples of operational risks.