In a statement made on September 29, 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Bank of England endorsed a proposal by the Working Group on Sterling Risk-Free Reference Rates (the Working Group) that the interdealer quoting convention should change such that prices be linked to SONIA, rather than LIBOR. This change was originally to be implemented from March 2, 2020, but has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.…

As we approach the ARRC’s September 30, 2020 deadline for new issue syndicated loans to include the ARRC’s recommended hardwired fallback language, several market sources report that a borrower has included the language in an amendment to its term loan and revolving facilities documentation in what appears to be the first example of the language’s adoption in a syndicated loan.…

ISDA had intended to publish a supplement to the 2006 ISDA Definitions such that new transactions incorporating them would include fallbacks for LIBOR cessation (the Supplement), and a protocol to facilitate amendments to legacy derivate contracts (the Protocol) (for more information, see our earlier blog post). ISDA initially expected publication of the supplement and protocol to occur in the coming months. However, on September 21, 2020 they published a letter in which the Protocol…

In an important step for the syndicated loan market in transitioning to SOFR and away from LIBOR as a benchmark interest rate, the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (“LSTA”) recently published what it deems a “concept” credit agreement (we’ll call it the “Concept SOFR Agreement” here) that references daily simple SOFR or daily compounded SOFR.  The Concept SOFR Agreement can be found on the LSTA’s website, along with a blackline against the LSTA’s form term…

On August 19, 2020, the ARRC updated its recommended Best Practices for the LIBOR transition in anticipation of the imminent publication of ISDA’s IBOR Fallback Protocol (the “Protocol”) (which we discussed in our earlier blog post, available here). These updates follow the July 22, 2020 letter from ISDA (the “Letter”) (available here), in which ISDA confirmed that market participants will be able to sign up to the Protocol “in escrow”. This will consist…

It’s been a busy summer in the land of LIBOR transition preparation. As part of the ARRC’s ongoing efforts to prepare the cash product markets for the transition to SOFR and away from LIBOR as a benchmark interest rate, it posted ten separate releases between Memorial Day and August 7, 2020, in addition to hosting six “SOFR Summer Series” panel discussions on various SOFR topics (which were recorded and can be accessed here). This…

On August 5, 2020, FINRA issued a regulatory notice outlining steps for broker-dealers to prepare for the pending transition away from LIBOR. The notice reminds firms to “evaluate their exposure to LIBOR” and “review their preparedness to manage LIBOR’s phase-out.” While the notice expressly disclaims any agency view of “specific effective practices,” it provides questions for firms to consider and a general description of best practices, which derive from responses to a survey undertaken by…