The Alternative Reference Rates Committee today welcomed the prototype publication launch of its recommended spread adjustments and spread adjusted rates for cash products by Refinitiv—which it selected in March to publish Libor cash fallback spreads and rates. Refinitiv is publishing one version for consumer cash products and another for international cash products. Both will be published to five decimal places.
“The launch of Refinitiv’s prototype rate is an important step in the transition away from [U.S. dollar] Libor for borrowers and lenders in the cash markets, and is the result of extensive work by both the ARRC and Refinitiv to produce robust fallback rates that all market participants can rely on,” said Tom Wipf, ARRC chairman and vice chairman at Morgan Stanley. “Starting today, market participants are able to evaluate the prototype, including testing their technical integration processes, which will help organizations get a clear understanding of where they need to focus their efforts in order to smoothly transition away from Libor in the coming months.”