The move away from the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) is a global phenomenon that has the financial industry mobilizing ahead of a looming deadline.
Five US dollar LIBOR settings (O/N, 1M, 3M, 6M &12M) continue to be calculated using panel bank submissions until mid-2023, although its use for new business was restricted from end-2021, with limited exceptions.
O/N and 12M USD LIBOR last publication date will be June 30, 2023
On April 3, 2023 – FCA confirmed its decision to require LIBOR’s administrator, IBA, to continue to publish the 1-, 3- and 6-month US dollar LIBOR settings under an unrepresentative ‘synthetic’ methodology until end-September 2024. After this, publication will cease permanently.
3-month GBP LIBOR has been produced on a non-representative basis for use in legacy contracts from the end of 2021.
On November 23, 2022 – FCA announced their decision to continue to require IBA to publish the 3-month synthetic sterling LIBOR setting until end-March 2024, after which it will cease permanently.
The Federal Reserve Board, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has previously issued supervisory guidance encouraging banks to cease entering into new contracts that use USD LIBOR. USD Dealing is permitted in certain use cases as outlined in the SR 20-27 Interagency Statement on LIBOR Transition.
On October 20, 2021 - Fed, OCC, FDIC, CFPB, NCUA, state bank and credit union regulators issued a joint statement on managing the LIBOR transition. The statement includes: Clarification regarding new LIBOR contracts: A new contract would include an agreement that (i) creates additional LIBOR exposure for a supervised institution or (ii) extends the term of an existing LIBOR contract. A draw on an existing agreement that is legally enforceable (e.g., a committed credit facility) would not be viewed as a new contract. For more information on considerations when assessing appropriateness of alternative reference rates, expectations for fallback language and additional considerations, please visit the statement.
On April 3, 2023 - The FCA announced its decision to require LIBOR’s administrator, IBA, to continue to publish the 1-, 3- and 6-month US dollar LIBOR settings under an unrepresentative ‘synthetic’ methodology until end-September 2024. These LIBOR settings will switch to a synthetic methodology, based on CME’s Term SOFR rate and the relevant ISDA fixed credit spread after June 30, 2023.
On February 1, 2023 –ESMA published its final report on the clearing (CO) and derivative trading (DTO) obligations to accompany the benchmark transition. The report sets out changes to amend the scope of the CO and DTO to reflect the move to primarily risk-free rates.
On December 16, 2022 – the Federal Reserve Board adopted the final rule that implements Adjustable Interest Rate (LIBOR) Act by identifying benchmark rates based on SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate) that will replace LIBOR in certain financial contracts after June 30, 2022.
On December 16, 2022 – the FSB published a progress report on the transition from LIBOR and other benchmarks encouraging final transition to robust reference rates as cessation of remaining LIBOR panels approaches.
On November 23, 2022 - FCA released a further consultation and announcements on the wind-down of LIBOR. They proposing to require LIBOR’s administrator, IBA, to continue to publish the 1-, 3- and 6-month US dollar LIBOR settings under an unrepresentative ‘synthetic’ methodology until end-September 2024. After this, publication would cease permanently. For sterling LIBOR, they intend to continue to require IBA to publish the 3-month synthetic sterling LIBOR setting until end-March 2024, after which it will cease permanently.
On November 14, 2022 - ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) announced that it will cease the publication of all USD LIBOR ICE Swap Rate “runs” (i.e. USD LIBOR Rates 1100, USD LIBOR Spreads 1100 and USD LIBOR 1500) for all tenors immediately after publication on June 30, 2023.
On November 9, 2022 - ARRC posted their November 9, 2022 meeting readout.
On November 1, 2022 - Refinitiv announced that it will cease publication of Tokyo Swap Rate (for swaps referencing TIBOR). The final publication will be at 15:30 (Tokyo time) on March 31, 2023.
On October 13, 2022 – ARRC released Loan Remediation Survey results encouraging transition progress in U.S. Dollar (USD) LIBOR Business Loans but reinforce the need for timely action.
On October 10, 2022, The European Money Markets Institute (EMMI) announced the launch of EFTERM® from November 14 2022. This is a prominent event given that this new fallback rate will help EURIBOR® users to comply with the relevant legal requirements under the EU Benchmarks Regulation.
On September 29, 2022 - The FCA announced their decision on the cessation of 1- and 6-month synthetic sterling LIBOR. Publication will continue until end-March 2023, after which these settings will permanently cease. For synthetic yen LIBOR, market participants should be prepared for publication to cease permanently at end-2022, as set out previously.
On September 8, 2022 - ISDA guidance on the IBOR fallback rates was published by Bloomberg and the interaction among RFR publications, IBOR fallback publications and the ISDA Definitions has been published on the ISDA Website.
On September 8, 2022 – ARRC posted their September 8, 2022 meeting readout.
On August 31, 2022 - IBA published a consultation on the potential cessation of the publication of the USD LIBOR ICE Swap Rate for all tenors immediately after publication on June 30, 2023. Due date October 7, 2022
On August 24, 2022- The Bank of England published a Policy Statement on changes to the UK Derivatives Clearing Obligation further to interest rates benchmark reform
In August 2022 - CME confirmed the approach for converting USD LIBOR cleared swaps.
On August 16, 2022 - The FCA released a statement encouraging market participants to continue transition of LIBOR-linked bonds.
On August 12, 2022 - The CFTC Issued its Final Rule Modifying the Swap Clearing Requirement in support of the transition from LIBOR and Other Interbank Offered Rates to Alternative Reference Rates.
On July 19, 2022 - Federal Reserve Board (FRB) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking implementing the Adjustable Interest Rate (LIBOR) Act enacted by Congress earlier this year
Link to Original Article: Leaving LIBOR: A Landmark Transition