Currency swap

Currency swap

An agreement to swap a series of specified payment obligations denominated in one currency for a series of specified payment obligations denominated in a different currency. Usually fixed for fixed.

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Currency swap. In a currency swap, the parties to the contract exchange the principal of two different currencies immediately, so that each party has the use of the different currency. They also make interest payments to each other on the principal during the contract term.

In many cases, one of the parties pays a fixed interest rate and the other pays a floating interest rate, but both could pay fixed or floating rates. When the contract ends, the parties re-exchange the principal amount of the swap.

Originally, currency swaps were used to give each party access to enough foreign currency to make purchases in foreign markets. Increasingly, parties arrange currency swaps as a way to enter new capital markets or to provide predictable revenue streams in another currency.