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This case was written as an exam case for first-year course, Global Economies and Markets. It is written as a comprehensive case that examine the policy choices facing a small open economy in an increasingly globalizing world. It can be used in a course on open economy macroeconomics or on international finance. Late in the day on December 18, 2006, the Bank of Thailand (BOT), the country's central bank, announced that effective the next day it would impose a 30% unremunerated reserve requirement (URR) on short-term capital inflows. The capital control measure required financial institutions to withhold in reserve accounts 30% of capital inflows that exceeded USD20,000 for a period of one year. The restriction on capital inflows represented a significant escalation of Thailand's battle to stop the appreciation of its official currency, the baht (THB). On December 19, the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index dropped by a record 14.84%, wiping out THB800 billion or USD22 billion of market capitalization. The sell-off affected regional stock markets as well, with Jakarta (Indonesia) down 2.85%; Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) down 2%; and Singapore down 2.23%. In the foreign exchange market, the baht lost 2% of its value against the U.S. dollar to settle at about THB36 to the dollar. The large foreign capital inflows and the resulting appreciation of the Thai baht had culminated in the decision by the interim government to impose capital controls. The dramatic reactions in the financial markets, however, had prompted Thai policymakers to reevaluate the situation and to consider policy options for 2007.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 107060.

After successfully issuing a €100 million Eurobond in 2005, executives at Parex Banka (Parex) in Riga, Latvia are considering issuing a second bond with a face value of €200 million and a term of 5 years. In planning the bond issue, the bank is debating the bond's characteristics, such as the currency (Euro versus U.S. dollar), the spread they would initially offer and how they would approach the meeting with potential investors. Students are tasked with assessing the bank's financing needs and recommending whether the bond should be issued and if so, its currency and price.

A retail jeweler has relocated to a larger store and is experiencing losses for the first time. Sales and costs have increased along with the breakeven point. Changes in pricing and promotion must be explored. Alternative actions to return to profitability can be considered.

The executives of Motilal Oswal Financial Services, Ltd., one of the largest brokerages in India, are considering an IPO on the Indian markets. The company recently received a small private equity investment from two global private equity firms, which it has not yet fully invested. Historically, the Indian markets have favored higher-revenue companies. Should Motilal Oswal go public now, to take advantage of the hot Indian market, or hold off and build its revenue for a higher valuation?

NCH Capital is considering whether to sell its Ukrainian company Univermag Ukraina, which it has held and built up over the past decade.

Following a successful model in Europe, JP Morgan has introduced a set of five U.S. retail mutual funds with an investment philosophy and marketing strategy grounded in behavioral finance. The asset management group believes that understanding investor biases like overconfidence, anchoring, and loss aversion is key to generating returns on the investment side and educating clients on the advisory side.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 207084

Established in the mid-1970s, microfinance provided tiny loans to poor families to help them start and/or expand small businesses. Thirty years later, the practice had helped more than 80 million people to lift themselves out of extreme poverty and grown into a global industry comprised of more than 3,000 microfinance institutions. Early pioneers of microfinance, such as Muhmmad Yunnus of Grameen Bank, had become celebrities of sorts, receiving scores of humanitarian awards, including the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Similarly, the microfinance movement itself had become so well known that it invited comments from mainstream cultural icons such as Bono, lead singer of the band U2, who said: "Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Give a women microcredit, she, her husband, her children, and her extended family will eat for a lifetime." Despite these accolades, Geoff Davis and Mike Murray believed that while microfinance was an important social innovation, it was dramatically underperforming relative to its potential because it had yet to achieve adequate scale. They pointed out less than 20% of the world's demand for microfinance was being met. Murray observed, "Usually, an industry that had those dynamics would have been closed down." Prompted by their vision of microfinance's potential, they founded Unitus, Inc., a nonprofit focused on accelerating the growth of the microfinance industry so that vastly larger numbers of people could gain access to the capital they needed to generate an income, raise their standard of living, and fulfill their basic needs. Explores dynamics in the microfinance industry, describes the Unitus business model, and sets up an important decision facing the company: whether to expand the amount of capital it can provide to its microfinance partners through the creation of a debt or equity fund.

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Students must analyse the marketing, operating and financial aspects of a personal fitness training centre to be located in London, Ontario, to determine an appropriate pricing and promotion strategy and the resulting projected financial success of the venture. Students need to develop cash budgets based on their assessment of the information provided. The analysis points to the financial uncertainty for a start-up company without hands-on experience from past years of operation. The case is suitable for class or as a report on business plan evaluation.

BASIX, an Indian microfinance corporation, must decide whether to continue to sell weather insurance to its clients. A brand-new financial product, weather insurance pays if measured rainfall during the growing season falls below a pre-specified limit. Mr. Sattaiah, managing director of the BASIX's bank, considers a revised insurance policy for the coming season, weighing the costs and potential risks of expanding the product against the potential benefits.

Spreadsheet Supplement for case 207099.

Spreadsheet for case 906E17

Using examples from financial markets, this note examines links among market prices, stated interest rates, and compounding assumptions. The note emphasizes how interest rates are expressions of market prices, and pays particular attention to the role of compounding assumptions. Market prices are converted into stated interest rates for different compounding assumptions. Guidance is offered on how to make intelligent comparisons across markets that use different compounding conventions. The note is useful as background for the study of a wide array of pricing issues in fixed-income and options markets.

This note introduces options (both calls and puts) and their valuation. After covering the history of options and the basic nature of their payoffs, the note provides an intuitive discussion of the determinants of an option's value. The note then introduces and applies the Black-Scholes option-pricing model to real data, using an Excel-based version of the model. Throughout, the emphasis is on the basics of options and their valuation.

This note shows how dividend payments affect option values owing to the effects of dividend payments on share price and resulting investor behavior. In addition to discussing the underlying logic, the note shows how to value options for dividend-paying stocks by adapting the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The note addresses issues of early exercise and the underlying incentives of investors who own call or put options.

This note examines how spot and forward interest rates relate to bond prices and to each other. After defining spot and forward rates, the note shows how to estimate spot rates from data on either zero-coupon bonds or coupon bonds. It also shows how to express these stated rates for different compounding assumptions. The note pays particular attention to understanding how arbitrage forces in markets establish the links between forward and spot rates and how to infer one set of rates from the other. The note deepens understanding of bond pricing, assuming that the reader is already familiar with the basics of present-value techniques. It is a useful springboard for topics (e.g., swaps) that require familiarity with spot and forward rates.

This note is a brief introduction to the logic and practice of using stock options to compensate executives. The Black-Scholes option-pricing model is used to estimate the value of option grants for a company. The note affords the opportunity to apply options valuation in the context of executive compensation, and serves as a companion to introductions to options that expose the reader to the Black-Scholes option-pricing model.

This note discusses the Black-Scholes option-pricing model and then applies the model to call options. The underlying logic of the model is emphasized and illustrated through the use of simple examples. The model is then applied using real data. The note pays particular attention to procedures for estimating the potential for stock-price changes (volatility). It also provides the reader with an appreciation of the economic underpinnings of the model as well as the ability to apply the model to real data.