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41. FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES (CONTINUED)(c)Credit RiskFinancial assets that potentially subject the Group to concentrations of credit risk are primarily trade receivables,cash and bank balances and financial instruments used in hedging activities.The Group has no significant concentration of credit risk due to its diverse customer base. Credit risk is managedthrough the application of credit assessment and approval, credit limit and monitoring procedures. Whereappropriate, the Group obtains deposits or bank guarantees from customers.The Group places its cash and cash equivalents with a number of creditworthy financial institutions. The Group’spolicy limits the concentration of financial exposure to any single financial institution.All hedging instruments are executed with creditworthy financial institutions with a view to limiting the credit riskexposure of the Group. The Group, however, is exposed to credit-related losses in the event of non-performanceby counterparties to financial derivative instruments, but does not expect any counterparties to fail to meet theirobligations.(d) Liquidity RiskPrudent liquidity risk management implies maintaining sufficient liquid funds to meet its financial obligations.In the management of liquidity and cash flow risk, the Group monitors and maintains a level of cash and cashequivalents deemed adequate by management to finance the Group’s operations and mitigate the effects offluctuations in cash flows. Due to the dynamic nature of the underlying business, the Group aims at maintainingflexibility in funding by keeping both committed and uncommitted credit lines available.(e)Fair valuesThe carrying amount of financial assets and liabilities of the Group and Company as at 31 December 2009approximate their fair values except as disclosed in Note 44 to the financial statements.42. INTEREST RATE RISKThe table below summarises the Group’s and the Company’s exposure to interest rate risk. Included in the tables arethe Group’s and the Company’s financial assets and liabilities at carrying amounts, categorised by the earlier of repricingor contractual maturity dates except for borrowings and amounts due from subsidiaries with floating interest rates.These are repriced within one year or less and have been shown to reflect their maturity dates. The off-balance-sheetgap represents the net notional amounts of all interest rate sensitive derivative instruments. Sensitivity to interest ratesarises from mismatches in the repricing dates, cash flows and other characteristics of assets and their correspondingliability funding.Axiata Group Berhad • 268