11 questions reported in HSBC interviews, organised by the group that asks them. Every question carries a model answer and graded feedback on your own attempt.
Questions
Easy · Medium
Hard
Model builds
Built in the spreadsheet grid
Greeks, skew, hedging costs and payoff construction. 4 questions
A sales-and-trading first round checks whether a candidate can convert a foreign-currency liability into the client's functional currency.
A US company issues a five-year EUR 100m bond because euro funding is attractive, but it earns almost all of its cash flow in US dollars. Explain how a cross-currency swap can change the company's…
A common sales and trading screen testing whether you can connect a derivative to a corporate financing problem.
A company has $100m of floating-rate debt paying SOFR plus 2%. It fears rates will rise. Explain the simplest interest-rate swap it could enter, what cash flows it would exchange, and what risk…
A desk arithmetic test after a candidate proposes a cap as protection for floating-rate debt.
A borrower has $50m of 90-day SOFR debt paying SOFR plus 1.80%. It buys a cap on $50m with a 4.00% strike for the same 90-day period. If realised SOFR fixes at 5.20%, calculate the cap payment and the…
A client-facing structuring case testing whether you can translate an operating exposure into a proportionate hedge recommendation.
A US manufacturer will pay EUR 50m for components in six months. Its gross margin is only 8%, it cannot pass through a sudden euro appreciation immediately, and management wants protection but does…
Carry, curve shape, storage economics and policy sensitivity. 3 questions
A basic client-coverage question that tests whether you match an instrument to a real exposure.
Distinguish an FX spot trade, forward and option. Give one sensible use case for each.
An FX operations-aware first round checks whether a candidate understands that execution is not complete when a trade is agreed.
A bank sells €25m for dollars to a counterparty for value tomorrow. What is FX settlement risk, and how does payment-versus-payment settlement reduce it?
An FX-options desk asks this when assessing whether a candidate can turn volatility-market information into a disciplined client recommendation.
USD/BRL spot is stable, but three-month USD/BRL implied volatility rises from 12% to 18% and USD calls trade at a much higher implied volatility than equivalent USD puts. A US importer must pay BRL…
Capital structure, covenant headroom, FX and interest rate hedging. 2 questions
Treasury teams support contracts where counterparties want payment assurance without an immediate cash deposit.
Explain the difference between a letter of credit and a bank guarantee. Why might a supplier ask for one, and what should treasury check before issuing it?
Treasury teams must protect operating cash and derivative collateral from a bank failure.
Your company holds substantial deposits and derivatives with several banks. How would you manage bank counterparty risk?
Stochastic calculus, VaR and expected shortfall, and model limitations. 1 question
A market-risk interview often tests whether you can diagnose a model exception without overreacting to one data point.
A desk's 99% one-day VaR is breached six times over 250 trading days. How do you interpret that result and investigate it?
Ratings, spreads, tenor and covenant packages, and pricing a new issue. 1 question
Emerging market debt has unique risks. This tests understanding of sovereign risk.
What are the key differences between emerging market and developed market corporate bonds, and how do you assess sovereign risk?
Write your answer, get it graded on technical accuracy, completeness and communication, and see exactly which mechanic you missed.
Company tags reflect where a question type is commonly reported in interviews. They are not sourced from, endorsed by, or affiliated with HSBC.