The FCA has announced the dates that panel bank submissions for all LIBOR settings will cease, after which representative LIBOR rates will no longer be available. This is an important step towards the end of LIBOR, and the Bank of England and FCA urge market participants to continue to take the necessary action to ensure they are ready.

The FCA has confirmed that all LIBOR settings will either cease to be provided by any administrator or no longer be representative:

• immediately after 31 December 2021, in the case of all sterling, euro, Swiss franc and Japanese yen settings, and the 1-week and 2-month US dollar settings; and
• immediately after 30 June 2023, in the case of the remaining US dollar settings

Based on undertakings received from the panel banks, the FCA does not expect that any LIBOR settings will become unrepresentative before the relevant dates set out above. Representative LIBOR rates will not, however, be available beyond the dates set out above. Publication of most of the LIBOR settings will cease immediately after these dates. As ISDA has confirmed separately, the ‘spread adjustments’ to be used in its IBOR fallbacks will be fixed today as a result of the FCA’s announcement, providing clarity on the future terms of the many derivative contracts which now incorporate these fallbacks.

The Bank of England and the FCA have made it clear over a number of years that the lack of an active underlying market makes LIBOR unsustainable, and unsuitable for the widespread reliance that had been placed upon it. Accordingly, both have worked closely with market participants and regulatory authorities around the world to ensure that robust alternatives to LIBOR are available and that existing contracts can be transitioned onto these alternatives to safeguard financial stability and market integrity.

Market-led working groups and official sector bodies, including the Financial Stability Board, have set out clear timelines to help market participants plan a smooth transition in advance of LIBOR ceasing. Today’s announcements confirm the importance of those preparations for all users of LIBOR. Regulated firms should expect further engagement from their supervisors at both the Prudential Regulation Authority and the FCA to ensure these timelines are met.

We have announced dates for the end of all LIBOR settings and urge all market participants to prepare for when these settings cease.

Find out morehttps://t.co/j6xqSe8A8R pic.twitter.com/bGIrMARh67

— Financial Conduct Authority (@TheFCA) March 5, 2021

Authorities have also recognised that there are some existing LIBOR contracts which are particularly difficult to amend ahead of the LIBOR panels ceasing, often known as the ‘tough legacy’. The FCA is taking steps to help reduce disruption in these cases. The FCA will consult in Q2 on using proposed new powers that the government is legislating to grant to it under the Benchmarks Regulation (BMR) to require continued publication on a ‘synthetic’ basis for some sterling LIBOR settings and, for 1 additional year, some Japanese yen LIBOR settings. It will also continue to consider the case for using these powers for some US dollar LIBOR settings. Any ‘synthetic’ LIBOR will no longer be representative for the purposes of the BMR and is not for use in new contracts. It is intended for use in tough legacy contracts only. The FCA will also consult in Q2 on which legacy contracts will be permitted to use any ‘synthetic’ LIBOR rate.

The FCA has also published today statements of policy in relation to some of these proposed new BMR powers. These statements of policy confirm its policy approach, explain its plans set out above and its intention to propose using, as a methodology for any ‘synthetic rate’, a forward-looking term rate version of the relevant risk-free rate plus a fixed spread aligned with the spreads in ISDA’s IBOR fallbacks.

FCA CEO Nikhil Rathi said:

‘Today’s announcements provide certainty on when the LIBOR panels will end. Publication of most of the LIBOR benchmarks will cease at the same time as the panels end. Market participants must now complete their transition plans.’

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said:

‘Today’s announcements mark the final chapter in the process that began in 2017, to remove reliance on unsustainable LIBOR rates and build a more robust foundation for the financial system. With limited time remaining, my message to firms is clear – act now and complete your transition by the end of 2021.’

Source: FCA

ISDA Statement on UK FCA LIBOR Announcement

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) has published the following statement in response to today’s announcement by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on the future cessation and loss of representativeness of the LIBOR benchmarks.

ISDA has published guidance related to today's announcement by @TheFCA on the future cessation and loss of representativeness of the #LIBOR #benchmarks. Read it here https://t.co/Of23ladQmV

— ISDA (@ISDA) March 5, 2021

“Today’s announcement constitutes an index cessation event under the IBOR Fallbacks Supplement and the ISDA 2020 IBOR Fallbacks Protocol for all 35 LIBOR settings. As a result, the fallback spread adjustment published by Bloomberg is fixed as of the date of the announcement for all euro, sterling, Swiss franc, US dollar and yen LIBOR settings.

“The FCA specifically announced that certain LIBOR settings (all seven euro and Swiss franc LIBOR tenors, overnight, one-week, two-month and 12-month sterling LIBOR, spot next, one-week, two-month and 12-month yen LIBOR, and one-week and two-month US dollar LIBOR) will permanently cease immediately after December 31, 2021. Publication of the overnight and 12-month US dollar LIBOR settings will permanently cease immediately after June 30, 2023.

“The FCA further announced that it will consult on requiring ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA), the administrator of LIBOR, to continue publishing one-month, three-month and six-month sterling LIBOR on a non-representative, synthetic basis for a further period after the end of 2021, and one-month, three-month and six-month yen LIBOR on a non-representative, synthetic basis for an additional year after end-2021, under proposed new powers included in the Financial Services Bill.

“The FCA will also consider whether to require IBA to continue publishing one-month, three-month and six-month US dollar LIBOR on a non-representative, synthetic basis for a further period after the end of June 2023.

“The fallbacks (ie, to the adjusted risk-free rate plus spread) will automatically occur for outstanding derivatives contracts that incorporate the IBOR Fallbacks Supplement or are subject to adherence of the ISDA 2020 IBOR Fallbacks Protocol on the following dates:

After December 31, 2021: For outstanding derivatives referenced to all euro, sterling, Swiss franc and yen LIBOR settings.
After June 30, 2023: For outstanding derivatives referenced to all US dollar LIBOR settings. Under the fallbacks methodology, the rate for the one-week and two-month US dollar LIBOR settings will be computed by each calculation agent using linear interpolation between end-2021 and June 30, 2023, before falling back to the adjusted risk-free rate plus spread after June 30, 2023.

“The ISDA 2020 IBOR Fallbacks Protocol, which incorporates the fallbacks into legacy non-cleared derivatives trades with other counterparties that choose to adhere to the protocol, remains open for adherence on the ISDA website.”

Source: ISDA

ICE Benchmark Administration Statement On Ceasing LIBOR

Intercontinental Exchange, a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of mortgage technology, data and listings services, announced that ICE Benchmark Administration Limited (IBA), the authorized and regulated administrator of LIBOR^®, has today published a feedback statement for the consultation on its intention to cease the publication of LIBOR^® settings.

On December 4, 2020, following discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and other official sector bodies, and in accordance with procedures adopted pursuant to the UK Benchmarks Regulation, IBA published a consultation on its intention to cease the publication of:

(i) all GBP, EUR, CHF and JPY LIBOR settings, and the 1 Week and 2 Month USD LIBOR settings immediately following the LIBOR publication on December 31, 2021; and

(ii) the Overnight and 1, 3, 6 and 12 Month USD LIBOR settings immediately following the LIBOR publication on June 30, 2023.

IBA consulted on these intended cessation dates because a majority of LIBOR panel banks had communicated to IBA that they would not be willing to continue contributing to the relevant LIBOR settings after such dates. As a result, IBA considered that it would be unable to publish the relevant LIBOR settings on a representative basis after such dates.

IBA received a broad of range of feedback from multiple stakeholders, both on the dates specified above and on the LIBOR transition process generally, including on matters beyond IBA’s remit as administrator of LIBOR. IBA has shared and discussed this feedback with the FCA. Further information on the feedback received is available in IBA’s consultation feedback statement.

In the absence of sufficient panel bank support and without the intervention of the FCA to compel continued panel bank contributions to LIBOR, it is not possible for IBA to publish the relevant LIBOR settings on a representative basis beyond the dates specified above for such settings. As a result of IBA not having access to input data necessary to calculate LIBOR settings on a representative basis beyond the dates specified above for such settings, IBA has to cease the publication of the relevant LIBOR settings on such dates, unless the FCA exercises its proposed new powers (which are included in the current Financial Services Bill as proposed amendments to the UK Benchmarks Regulation) to require IBA to continue publishing such LIBOR settings using a changed methodology (also known as a “synthetic” basis).

The FCA has advised IBA that it has no intention of using its proposed new powers to require IBA to continue the publication of any EUR or CHF LIBOR settings, or the Overnight/Spot Next, 1 Week, 2 Month and 12 Month LIBOR settings in any other currency, beyond the above intended cessation dates for such settings. The FCA has also advised IBA that it will consult on using these proposed new powers to require IBA to continue the publication on a “synthetic” basis of the 1 Month, 3 Month and 6 Month GBP and JPY LIBOR settings beyond such dates, and will continue to consider the case for using these proposed powers in respect of the 1 Month, 3 Month and 6 Month USD LIBOR settings.

The FCA has confirmed to IBA that, based on undertakings received from the panel banks, it does not expect that any LIBOR settings will become unrepresentative before the above intended cessation dates for such settings.

Stakeholders who are interested as to statements relating to the cessation or unrepresentativeness of LIBOR for the purpose of contractual triggers for fallback rate arrangements should see the FCA statement issued earlier today.

Source: ICE