With several tenors of Libor scheduled to sunset at the end of the year and the remainder in June 2023, the American Bankers Association and a group of financial trade organizations urged lawmakers to advance legislation to address “tough legacy” contracts—those that do not have appropriate contractual fallback language to facilitate the transition to an alternative reference rate.
With several tenors of Libor scheduled to sunset at year-end, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu today emphasized that regulators will not allow “new Libor exposures—zombie or otherwise—after Dec. 31, 2021, and we mean it.” Hsu was referring to the belief by some that some form of Libor will survive after that date as “synthetic Libor” or “zombie Libor.”
The majority of financial services firms, 79%, have some internal Libor transition plan in place, according to a new survey from Bloomberg and the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association.
In a joint statement today, the federal and state banking regulators emphasized that supervised institutions are expected to continue to transition away from Libor ahead of the scheduled Dec. 31, 2021 sunset of several Libor tenors.
As banks prepare for the forthcoming cessation of Libor, the OCC today released an updated self-assessment tool for banks to evaluate their preparedness for transitioning away from Libor to an alternate reference rate, such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate.
The Alternative Reference Rates Committee today recommended that all market participants slow their use of Libor over the next six weeks to ease the year-end change to alternative reference rates.
With certain tenors of Libor set to cease publication in December—and with the majority of adjustable rate mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration based on Libor—the Department of Housing and Urban Development is seeking feedback on how it can transition away from Libor to an alternative rate.
Lenders need to “pick up the pace” to be ready for the year-end change away from Libor to alternative reference rates, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles, who also chairs the Financial Stability Board, said in a speech today.
The Alternative Reference Rates Committee today published a set of frequently asked questions addressing its recent best practices recommendations related to scope of use for the SOFR Term Rate.
In a letter to nonfinancial corporations today, the heads of the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission addressed the ongoing Libor transition, noting that “a smooth transition will be best supported if financial institutions offer alternatives to USD Libor that meet borrower needs and if this is done in a timely fashion.”