16. Financial instruments and related disclosure
| (a) | Status of financial instruments |
| (i) | Policies for financial instruments |
Based on the JBIC Act, JBIC is a policy-based financial institution wholly owned by the Japanese government, which has the purpose of contributing to the sound development of Japan and the international economy and society while supplementing the financial transactions implemented by private-sector financial institutions, by performing the financial function to promote the overseas development and securement of resources which are important for Japan; maintaining and improving the international competitiveness of Japanese industries; promoting the overseas business having the purpose of preserving the global environment, such as preventing global warming, as well as preventing disruptions to international financial order or taking appropriate measures with respect to damages caused by such disruption.
JBIC’s principal operations consist of providing “export loans,” “import loans,” “investment financing,” “financing for business development” (including guarantees) and “capital investment.” To conduct these operations, funds are raised through borrowings from the fiscal investment and loans and the foreign exchange fund special account, and the issuing of bonds. An ALM (asset and liability management) function has been established in respect of JBIC’s financial assets and liabilities that are subject to interest rate and currency fluctuations to assist in ensuring that such fluctuations do not have an adverse effect on JBIC’s operations. In addition, derivative transactions are entered into for the purpose of mitigating risk inherent in foreign currency denominated transactions. Financial instruments that can be used for the management of surplus funds are limited to safe instruments such as Japanese government bonds, etc., as stipulated in the JBIC Act.
The budget required for governmental financial operations is decided upon by the Diet of Japan, and business plans and financial plans (borrowings from fiscal investment and loans, bonds, general accounting investment, and loans, etc.) are appended to the budget and submitted to the Diet of Japan.
The consolidated foreign subsidiary of JBIC engage in investments and other related activities as their principal operation.
| (ii) | Types of financial instruments and risks |
The assets that JBIC holds mainly include loans to borrowers in Japan and overseas, and securities and liabilities mainly include borrowed money and bonds. The consolidated foreign subsidiary of JBIC holds securities subject to price fluctuations.
The associated risks of financial assets and financial liabilities held by JBIC are described below.
Credit risk is the risk that JBIC will suffer losses if the financial conditions of the borrower deteriorate and the value of assets (including off-balance sheet assets) declines or is impaired.
The credit risks associated with JBIC include sovereign risk, country risk, corporate risk, and project risk. JBIC engages in significant financing activities with overseas governments, governmental institutions, and overseas corporations as part of its support to overseas economic transactions. Because of the characteristics of these activities, sovereign or country risk is a significant part of the credit risk JBIC is exposed to in connection with these activities.
As a result, if the financial conditions of the individual borrower significantly deteriorate due to political and economic trends in the borrower’s country or region, JBIC’s performance and financial conditions can be adversely affected.
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(Note) | | Sovereign risk refers to risk associated with credit extended to foreign governments. Country risk refers to risk associated with the country in which the corporation or project is located (risk, in addition to corporate risk or project risk, associated with the country in which the corporation or the project is located). Corporate risk refers to the risk associated with credit to corporations and project risk refers to the risk that the cash flows generated from the project fail to generate the planned cash flows, in the case of project finance, where the repayment of the borrowing is primarily secured by the cash flow of the project to which credit is extended. |
Market risk is the risk that the value of assets and liabilities (including off-balance sheet items) will fluctuate and losses will be incurred, or profits derived from assets and liabilities (including off-balance sheet items) will fluctuate and losses will be incurred due to changes in various market risk factors, such as interest rates and exchange rates.
The market risk borne by JBIC mainly consists of foreign exchange risk and interest rate risk, and JBIC may suffer losses from these risks due to fluctuations in the markets such as market turmoil. However, in principle, these risks are hedged through interest rate swaps, currency swaps, and forward foreign exchange contracts.
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