1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
In recent decades, international trade in goods and financial services has become increasingly important. To facilitate such trade, many banking institution have also become international.
Foreign exchange market (currency market) is a form of exchange for the global decentralized trading of international currencies. Financial centres around the world function as auchors of trading between a wide range of different types of buyers and sellers around the clock.
The foreign exchange market determines the relative valve of different currencies.
The foreign exchange market assist international trade and investment by enabling currency conversion for example, it permits a business in Nigeria import goods from European union member states especially Eurozone members and pay Euros. Ever through its income is in Nigeria. It also support direct speculation in the valve of currencies and the carry tradE, speculation basat on the interest rate differential between two currencies.
In a typical foreign exchange transaction a party purchases some quantity of one currency by paying some quantity of another currency. The modern foreign exchange market began forming during the 1970s after three decades of government restrict on foreign exchange transaction (the Bretton wood system of monetary management established the riles for commercial and financial relations among the world’s major industries states after world war II) when countries gradually switched to floating exchange rate from previous exchange rate regime which remained fixed as per the Bretton wood system.
The foreign exchange market is unique because of the following characteristics.
As such it has been referred to as the market closest to the ideal of perfect competition not withstanding currency intervention by central banks. According to the bank for international settlement as of April 2010, average daily turnover in global foreign exchange market is estimated at $3.98 trillion a growth of approximately 20% over the %3.21 trillion daily volume as of April 2007. Some firms specializing on foreign exchange market had put the average daily turnover in excess of US $4 trillion.
Banks have expanded internationally by establishing foreign subsidiaries and branches or by taking over established foreign banks. The internationalization of the banking section has been spurred by the lateralization of financial market worldwide. Developed and developing countries alike now increasingly allow banks to be foreign owned and allow foreign entry on a nation treatment basis.
Financial liberalization of this kind of proceeds, among other reasons on the premise that the gains from foreign entry to the democratic banking system out weight any losses several authors have addressed the potential benefits of foreign bank entry for the domestic economy in terms of better resource allocation and higher efficiency Levine (1996) specifically mention that foreign bank may:
Domestic banks may incur costs they have to compete with larger international bank with better reputation local entrepreneurs may receive less chess to financial service since foreign generally concentrate on multinational firms and government may find their control of the economy diminished since foreign banks tend to be less sensitive to their wishes.
As yet little evidence exist of the effects of an internationalization of the banking sector other than several case studies of foreign bank entry MC Fadden (1994) reviews foreign bank entry in Australia and finds that this has led to improved domestic bank entry operations. Bhattacharaya (1993) reports on specific cases in Pakistan, Turkey, and korea where foreign banks facilitated access to foreign capital for domestic project pigott (19986) describe the policies that have made increased foreign bank activity possible in nine pacific Basin countries and provides some aggregate statistics on the size and scope of foreign banking activities in these markets.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The statement of problem of the research work is to discuss the effect of foreign exchange and international trade on bank profitability.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
We the researcher our aims are to provide a systematic study of how banks profit from foreign exchange and international activities. However, the objective of the study are as follows:
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.5 HYPOTHESIS
HI
: foreign exchange affect bank profitabilityH0
: foreign exchange do not affect bank profitabilityH2
: international trade affect bank profitabilityH0
: international trade do not affect bank profitabilityH3
: foreign exchange and international trade affect the size and scope of foreign banking activities.H0
: foreign exchange and international trade do not affect the size and scope of foreign banking activities.H4
: foreign exchange and international trade affect the quantity and availability of financial services in the domestic financial market by increasing bank competition.1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This work will be immense bat to the economy of the country at large. It will serve as a guard to students of banking and finance who wish to carryout the same research. Finally it will of importance to the banking because it proffers ways on how bank can increase their profit through foreign exchange and international trade.
1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
This study may not be absolutely comprehensive due to the under listed factors that constrained the study.
Time: Time was not adequate for a comprehensive study of this work this is because as at the time this research was being carried out we are engaged with lectures, assignments and other home chores. Hence there was no enough time to carryout the research.
Finance: With the state of the economy and the sky rocking of prices of materials and information, we the researchers as students sourcing fund for the research work is a little bit difficult.
Uncooperative Attitude of the Respondents:
Uncooperative attitude of the respondents, the work of the nature does not ways receive the blessing of the management, hence information not given out some vital information because they felt the researcher may be an agent of competing firm some respondents on their own part did not cooperate.
1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
InternationalTrade: This may be defined as the
exchange of goods and services between two or more countries.
Foreign Exchange: Is seen as the transfer of bank
deposits and credit instruments that serves as a means of international payment.
Bank: My be defined as a financial institution where
money and other valuables are kept for safe keeping.
Bank Profitability: This may be defined as the money
the bank earn from the fees that it charges for its services and the interest that its earn on it’s asset.