Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
Interest Rate Risk. Our exposure to market risk for changes in interest rates relates primarily to our investment portfolio. We consider cash invested in highly liquid financial instruments with a remaining maturity of three months or less at the date of purchase to be cash equivalents. Investments in highly liquid financial instruments with maturities greater than three months are classified as short-term investments. We generally hold securities until maturity; however, they may be sold under certain circumstances, including, but not limited to, when necessary for the funding of acquisitions and other strategic investments. As a result of this policy, we classify our investment portfolio as available-for-sale. We invest in high-credit quality issuers and, by policy, limit the amount of credit exposure to any one issuer. As stated in our policy, we seek to ensure the safety and preservation of our invested principal funds by limiting default risk, market risk and reinvestment risk. We mitigate default risk by investing in safe and high-credit quality securities and by constantly positioning our portfolio to respond appropriately to a significant reduction in a credit rating of any investment issuer, guarantor or depository. The portfolio includes only marketable securities with active secondary or resale markets to facilitate portfolio liquidity. At December 31, 2021 and 2020, we held primarily cash equivalents and short-term investments with fixed interest rates. We do not hold any instruments for trading purposes.
Our investment securities are subject to market interest rate risk and will vary in value as market interest rates fluctuate. To minimize market risk, we invest in high-credit quality issuers and, by policy, limit the amount of credit exposure to any one issuer, and therefore if market interest rates were to increase or decrease by 10% from interest rates as of December 31, 2021 or December 31, 2020, the increase or decrease in the fair market value of our portfolio on these dates would not have been material. We monitor our investments for impairment on a periodic basis. Refer to Note 5, Marketable Securities , in our Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for a tabular presentation of our available-for-sale investments and the expected maturity dates.
Foreign Currency Exchange Risk. As of December 31, 2021, our primary transactional currency was the U.S. dollar; in addition, we hold cash in Swiss francs and euros to fund the operation of our Swiss subsidiary. Cash balances held in foreign countries are subject to local banking laws and may bear higher or lower risk than cash deposited in the United States. The following represents the potential impact on our pretax income from a change in the value of the U.S. dollar compared to the Swiss franc and euro as of December 31, 2021. This sensitivity analysis applies a change in the U.S. dollar value of 5% and 10%.
December 31, 2021
(in thousands of USD)
5%
10%
Swiss franc and euro foreign exchange impact
$
104
$
207
The foreign exchange rate fluctuation between the U.S. dollar versus the Swiss franc and euro is recorded in other income in our consolidated statements of income.
We have R&D and sales offices in various other foreign countries in which our expenses are denominated in the local currency, primary Asia and Western Europe. From time to time we may enter into foreign currency hedging contracts to hedge certain foreign currency transactions. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, we did not have an open foreign currency hedge program utilizing foreign currency forward exchange contracts.
With two of our major suppliers, Seiko Epson Corporation (Epson) and ROHM Lapis Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (Lapis) we have wafer supply agreements based in U.S. dollars; however, our agreements with Epson and Lapis also allow for mutual sharing of the impact of the exchange rate fluctuation between Japanese yen and the U.S. dollar. Each year, our management and these suppliers review and negotiate pricing; the negotiated pricing is denominated in U.S. dollars but is subject to contractual exchange rate provisions. The fluctuation in the exchange rate is shared equally between us and each of these suppliers.
Nevertheless, as a result of our above-mentioned supplier agreements, our gross margin is influenced by fluctuations in the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen. All else being equal, a 10% change in the value of the U.S. dollar compared to the Japanese yen would eventually result in a corresponding change in our gross margin of approximately 1.0%; this sensitivity may increase or decrease depending on the percentage of our wafer supply that we purchase from some of our Japanese suppliers and could subject our gross profit and operating results to the potential for material fluctuations.
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