In the ordinary course of business, the Company is exposed to foreign currency risk, interest rate risk, equity risk, commodity price changes and credit risk. The Company enters into transactions, and owns monetary assets and liabilities, that are denominated in currencies other than the legal entity’s functional currency. The Company may enter into forward contracts, option contracts, swaps, or other derivative instruments to offset a portion of the risk on expected future cash flows, earnings, net investments in certain international subsidiaries and certain existing assets and liabilities. However, the Company may choose not to hedge certain exposures for a variety of reasons including, but not limited to, accounting considerations and the prohibitive economic cost of hedging particular exposures. There can be no assurance the hedges will offset more than a portion of the financial impact resulting from movements in foreign currency exchange or interest rates. Generally, the Company does not use derivative instruments to cover equity risk and credit risk. The Company’s hedging program is not used for trading or speculative purposes.

All derivatives are recognized on the balance sheet at their fair value. Changes in the fair value of derivatives are recorded in the Consolidated Statements of Operations, or as a component of AOCI in the Consolidated Balance Sheets, as discussed below.

The Company uses interest rate swap derivative contracts to economically convert a portion of its variable-rate debt to fixed-rate debt. The swaps have maturities at various dates through October 2023. The Company terminated interest rate swaps with a notional value of $400,000 in December 2021. Gains and losses on cash flow hedges are recorded in AOCI until the hedged item is recognized in earnings. Deferred gains and losses associated with cash flow hedges of interest payments are recognized in Interest expense and finance charges, net in the same period as the related expense is recognized. Derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges must be de-designated as hedges when it is probable the forecasted hedged transaction will not occur in the initially identified time period or within a subsequent two-month time period. Deferred gains and losses in AOCI associated with such derivative instruments are reclassified into earnings in the period of de-designation. Any subsequent changes in fair value of such derivative instruments are recorded in earnings unless they are re-designated as hedges of other transactions.

The Company uses short-term forward contracts to offset the foreign exchange risk of assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than the functional currency of the respective entities. These contracts, which are not designated as hedging instruments, mature or settle within twelve months. Derivatives that are not designated as hedging instruments are adjusted to fair value through earnings in the financial statement line item to which the derivative relates.

The fair values of the Company’s derivative instruments are disclosed in Note 10 - Fair Value Measurements and summarized in the table below:

	Value as of
Balance Sheet Line Item	November 30, 2021		November 30, 2020
Derivative instruments not designated as hedging instruments:
Foreign exchange forward contracts (notional value)	$	1,217,595	$	274,181
Other current assets		13,764		209
Other accrued liabilities		2,992		3,232
Interest rate swap (notional value)	$	-	$	100,000
Other assets, net		-		-
Other accrued liabilities		-		128
Derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges:
Interest rate swaps (notional value)	$	1,500,000	$	1,500,000
Other accrued liabilities		38,670		115,598
Other long-term liabilities		24,151		-

The notional amounts of foreign exchange forward contracts represent the gross amounts of foreign currency, including, principally, the Australian dollar, Brazilian real, British pound, Canadian dollar, Chinese yuan, Czech koruna, Danish krone, Euro, Indian rupee, Indonesian rupiah, Japanese yen, Mexican peso, Norwegian krone, Philippine peso, Polish zloty, Singapore dollar, Swedish krona and Swiss franc that will be bought or sold at maturity. The notional amounts for outstanding derivative instruments provide one measure of the transaction volume outstanding and do not represent the amount of the Company’s exposure to credit or market loss. The Company’s exposure to credit loss and market risk will vary over time as currency and interest rates change.

The Effect of Derivative Instruments on AOCI and the Consolidated Statements of Operations

The following table shows the gains and losses, before taxes, of the Company's derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges in Other Comprehensive Income (“OCI”), and not designated as hedging instruments in the Consolidated Statements of Operations for the periods presented:

	Location of Gains (losses)	For the fiscal years ended November 30,
	in Income	2021			2020			2019

Derivative instruments designated as cash flow hedges:
Gains (losses) recognized in OCI on interest rate swaps		$	10,902		$	(66,372	)	$	(88,569	)
Gains (losses) on interest rate swaps reclassified from AOCI into income	Interest expense and finance charges, net	$	(42,115	)	$	(34,443	)	$	(8,455	)

Derivative instruments not designated as hedging instruments:
Gains (losses) recognized from foreign exchange forward contracts, net⁽¹⁾	Cost of products sold	$	18,073		$	-		$	-
Gains (losses) recognized from foreign exchange forward contracts, net⁽¹⁾	Other income (expense), net		(6,878	)		1,844			(588	)
Gains (losses) recognized from interest rate swaps, net	Interest expense and finance charges, net		128			(643	)		(3,004	)
Total		$	11,323		$	1,201		$	(3,592	)

There were no material gain or loss amounts excluded from the assessment of effectiveness. Existing net losses in AOCI that are expected to be reclassified into earnings in the normal course of business within the next twelve months are $38,670.

Credit exposure for derivative financial instruments is limited to the amounts, if any, by which the counterparties’ obligations under the contracts exceed the Company’s obligations to the counterparties. The Company manages the potential risk of credit losses through careful evaluation of counterparty credit standing and selection of counterparties from a limited group of financial institutions.