In a written statement on 23 June 2020 made by Rishi Sunak, The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the UK Government has announced its intention to introduce a legislative solution for the transition of so-called “tough legacy” LIBOR-linked products. It intends to include measures in the forthcoming Financial Services Bill to ensure that, by end-2021, the … Read more
The latest development in the Bank of England’s (BoE) attempts to support the adoption of SONIA in cash products – and to speed up the transition away from LIBOR-linked products – is the publication of its response to the consultation it conducted into the publication of a SONIA index: Supporting Risk-Free Rate transition through the … Read more
The UK’s Tough Legacy Taskforce (Taskforce) has issued a paper on “tough legacy” issues in the transition from LIBOR. In an important intervention, it has recommended a legislative fix for all asset classes and possibly all LIBOR currencies. The scope of the recommendation from the Taskforce is wider than many will have expected, but will … Read more
We commented last month on the announcement from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), confirming the preliminary results of its re-consultation on the implementation of pre-cessation fallbacks for derivatives referenced to LIBOR: ISDA pre-cessation fallback consensus: will this reduce legacy LIBOR risk in the derivatives market? ISDA has now published a report summarising the … Read more
In early March, 2020, the Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC) in the US published a proposal for New York legislation to assist the transition of financial contracts away from US dollar (USD) LIBOR. In a blog post in March, HSF provided an overview of this proposal and its specific provisions. LIBOR transition: What does the … Read more
The Working Group on Sterling Risk-Free Reference Rates (RFRWG) has published a further statement on the impact of COVID-19 for firms’ LIBOR transition plans. The latest statement follows the earlier joint statement made by the FCA, Bank of England and RFRWG on 25 March 2020, in which the regulators set out their initial response to … Read more
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) has announced the preliminary results of its re-consultation on the implementation of pre-cessation fallbacks for derivatives referenced to LIBOR (see press release). It follows an earlier consultation on pre-cessation fallbacks last year, which failed to achieve market consensus on whether or not (and if so, how) to include … Read more
The Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC) in the US has published a proposal for New York legislation to assist the transition of financial contracts away from US dollar (USD) LIBOR: Proposed Legislative Solution to Minimize Legal Uncertainty and Adverse Economic Impact Associated with LIBOR Transition (see the ARRC press release). The legislation is not yet … Read more
The past week has been important for developments in LIBOR transition, particularly for the cash markets where progress has hitherto been less advanced than other markets. On 26 February 2020, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) and Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) hosted a joint conference on benchmark reform in London. One … Read more
