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How does currency risk impact firms? New evidence from bank loan contracts

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  • Bergbrant, Mikael C.
  • Francis, Bill B.
  • Hunter, Delroy M.

Abstract

We use unique features of the private credit market to examine if and how currency risk impacts firms' financing and whether currency risk is a priced systematic risk at the firm level. We find that currency exposure has a large impact on loan spreads. Decomposing loan spreads, we find that exposure increases the expected default loss premium and that internationalization, growth opportunities, and relationship intensify exposure's impact. Further, exposure exacerbates firms' financing risk by increasing the need for collateral, reducing loan maturity, inducing monitoring and covenant intensity, and influencing syndicate structure. However, exposure does not affect the expected return premium in loan spreads; hence, currency risk does not appear priced in the classical sense and, therefore, should not affect the “true” cost of debt. Our findings imply that while managers should be concerned about exposure's impact on their access to, and terms of, bank financing, they should not adjust hurdle rates on account of exposure when assessing investment projects.

Suggested Citation

  • Bergbrant, Mikael C. & Francis, Bill B. & Hunter, Delroy M., 2024. "How does currency risk impact firms? New evidence from bank loan contracts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:84:y:2024:i:c:s092911992400004x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2024.102542
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Exchange rate exposure; Bank loan contracting; Cost of debt; Expected return premium; Expected default loss premium; Private credit market;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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