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On January 4, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Market Participants Division (MPD) issued Staff Letter 21-02 providing temporary no-action relief to permit futures commission merchants (FCM) to invest customer funds in investments that have adjustable rates of interest that correlate closely with, or are determined solely by reference to, a benchmark of the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), recognizing the increasing use of SOFR as an alternative reference rate to LIBOR in financial markets.
Continue Reading CFTC Staff Provides Temporary Relief to Futures Commission Merchants Regarding Certain SOFR-Linked Investments

On October 23, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) published two important documents that give swap market participants a convenient way to modify their swap agreements to account for the expected discontinuation of the London Inter-bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and other interbank offered rates (collectively, IBORs). The two documents are the IBOR Fallbacks Supplement to the 2006 ISDA Definitions (Supplement) and the 2020 IBOR Fallbacks Protocol (Protocol). The effective date for both the Supplement and the Protocol is January 25, 2021.
Continue Reading ISDA Publishes IBOR Fall Back Supplement and Related Protocol

On August 31, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) issued a no-action letter (No-Action Letter 20-23) providing additional relief to swap dealers (SDs) and other market participants related to the industry-wide initiative to transition from swaps that reference the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and other interbank offered rates (IBORs) to swaps that reference alternative benchmarks.
Continue Reading CFTC No-Action Letter 20-23: CFTC Provides Additional Relief to Market Participants Transitioning from LIBOR

On May, 27, the Alternate Reference Rate Committee (ARRC) that works under the auspices of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York issued a set of “Best Practices for Completing Transition Away from LIBOR.” The Best Practices reinforce the ARRC’s position that markets should cease using the London Inter-bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) as a reference rate in financial transactions well before the December 31, 2021 end date identified by UK regulators by providing specific dates by which specific products should be LIBOR-free.
Continue Reading LIBOR Transition Best Practices Statement Issued by ARRC

The Alternate Reference Rates Committee, operating under the auspices of the Federal Reserve, has published two consultations concerning the replacement of the London Inter-bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) in financial contracts. One consultation deals with floating rate notes and the other deals with syndicated business loans. The consultations contain draft fallback provisions for contracts referencing LIBOR that are intended to minimize disruption when the calculation of LIBOR, in its current form, is discontinued or the rate is no longer usable as a practical matter.
Continue Reading LIBOR Replacement Language Published for Comment