Podcast: Credit Funds: Replacing LIBOR – Steps To Consider Taking Now
2024 was a busy year for the Courts in England and Wales when it came to banking and wider financial services disputes. We were spoilt for choice when selecting our top 5 cases and, inevitably, have left out some significant...more
General market unease in the first fiscal quarter of 2023 was evident. The back-to-back collapse of two regional banks spooked investors and the effects of two federal rate increases rippled through the market. Uncertainty in...more
Survey Finds Small-Business Lending Fraud on Rise - “Lending fraud with small and midsize businesses has increased significantly over the last 12 months, and many financial institutions expect it to get worse, according to...more
Summary - The Federal Reserve Board last week adopted a final rule that implements the Adjustable Interest Rate (LIBOR) Act (the LIBOR Act). The LIBOR Act identifies benchmark rates based on the Secured Overnight Financing...more
On November 23, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) released its further consultation to require the administrator of LIBOR to publish a synthetic version of 1-, 3-, and 6-month U.S. dollar LIBOR settings for a...more
On September 29, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) issued a statement that the publication of the 1-month and 6-month synthetic sterling LIBOR would permanently cease at the end of March 2023....more
On July 19, the Federal Reserve issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPR”) that would implement the Federal LIBOR Act. The NPR focuses primarily on identifying the particular version of SOFR that will apply to legacy...more
The LIBOR transition process continues to roll along. New transactions are (mostly) being closed without using LIBOR any more, and many legacy transactions are naturally transitioning when refinanced or renewed this year....more
Islamic finance providers have been slow to make the transition away from LIBOR, as the replacement benchmark rates pose challenges in the context of Sharia compliance - The phase-out of the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate...more
This LIBOR transition update, directed primarily at private credit lenders, provides a recap of recent trends and reflects new developments on the eve of LIBOR transition for banks, including new SOFR issuance by private...more
Where we left off: In our Mid-Year Check-In blogpost, we noted that progress in the development and readiness of some credit sensitive interest rate indices (e.g., Bloomberg’s BSBY, IBA’s Bank Yield Index and American...more
It probably goes without saying, but not all lending indexes are created equally. Each may look at different risks or markets, and not all indexes are “plug and play” for commercial lending transactions. As most have heard...more
The best benchmark for a company or a bank primarily depends upon the entity’s debt/interest rate swap situation as summarized below. This analysis also touches on the rationale behind the derivatives market's recent embrace...more
Based upon the records of the New York Fed and the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) of the St. Louis Fed, the level of reverse repo activity on June 17th -18th reached unprecedented levels. It was previously reported...more
On November 30, 2020, the ICE Benchmark Administration Limited (IBA), the administrator of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), announced that it would consult on its plan to cease the publication of one-week and...more
As both lenders and borrowers in the financial industry are well aware, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom publicly announced in 2017 that it would no longer compel financial institutions comprising...more
In the News. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed modifying the disclosure framework for mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (funds), which would create a new layered disclosure regime that attempts to...more
The disruption to capital markets caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has not shifted the overall timeline of regulators and industry bodies for the replacement of US dollar LIBOR with SOFR by the end of 2021. With the expected...more
On December 23, 2019, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) issued an Industry Letter instructing each institution it regulates, including banks and licensed Fintechs, to make submissions describing the...more
In another sign of progress, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) proposed easing a rule that requires banks to put cash aside to safeguard derivatives trades among affiliates. The proposal would remove the...more
LIBOR, the reference rate for more than US$300 trillion of contracts globally and nearly US$200 trillion of US dollar contracts, is expected to cease after the end of 2021. In highlighting the limitations of the LIBOR reforms...more
The Federal Reserve Board ("FRB") began publishing the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR") in April. This rate was developed to be a more reliable benchmark than LIBOR, which lost credibility a few years ago when it was...more