In its last regulatory action for 2022, on December 23, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) published its staff no-action letter No. 22-21 (“NAL”) allowing commodity brokers – Futures Commission Merchants...more
The U.S. dollar London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) publication is scheduled to end by June 30, 2023. With roughly nine months to go as of this writing, parties still have time to make modifications to existing debt...more
On July 11, 2022, the Alternative Reference Rates Committee (the “ARRC”) published a “Playbook” to assist market participants in transitioning their legacy LIBOR contracts to an alternative rate by June 30, 2023. The...more
The United States Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari filed by six foreign banks that argued that U.S. courts lacked personal jurisdiction over them. (Lloyd’s Banking Group. PLC v. Schwab Short-Term Bond Market...more
Depositor protection identity verification: PRA PS4/21 - Following its consultation in CP3/21, the UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has published a policy statement, PS4/21, on depositor protection identity...more
The EU Working Group on Risk-Free Rates has published a report setting out recommendations for the transition of financial products from EONIA to the Euro Short-Term Rate (€STR). The recommendations aim to ensure liquidity in...more
While there are many challenges associated with the prospective LIBOR transition at the end of 2021, one of the most daunting challenges has to be the impact of the prospective transition on outstanding financings and other...more
We previously blogged about the recent AICPA conference. At the conference, representatives from the Office of Chief Accountant also shared some views regarding the discontinuation of LIBOR. The Staff of the OCA joined in the...more
Many tax-exempt bonds and related hedges, such as interest rate swaps ("Exempt Instruments"), use a LIBOR-based interest rate. LIBOR is going away, and existing Exempt Instruments are going to have to be modified to replace...more
The U.S. tax authorities have issued substantial guidance related to the phase-out of LIBOR – relevant to lenders, borrowers and parties to financial instruments of virtually every type. In proposed regulations (“the...more
Tax relief may be coming for issuers and holders of debt instruments and parties to derivatives and other financial contracts governed by LIBOR (the London Interbank Offered Rate). ...more
FASB has issued a proposed Accounting Standards Update, or ASU, to provide temporary optional guidance to ease the potential burden in accounting for (or recognizing the effects of) reference rate reform on financial...more
The Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Staff) issued a Public Statement regarding the probable transition away from the London Inter-bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) after December 31, 2021, as a result of the...more
Presenters at the Benchmark Rates Forum from KPMG, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, NatWest Markets, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, TD Securities, RBS, Santander, Société Générale, UBS, the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, the...more
I attended the recent ARRC roundtable discussion on the LIBOR to SOFR transition and was struck by the tenor of urgency in the discussion – urgency to begin operational preparations for the transition; urgency to inventory...more
LIBOR is the reference rate for hundreds of trillions of dollars in financial contracts, ranging from syndicated loans, floating rate bonds and notes, to individual home mortgages, consumer and student loans, and other simple...more
Some analysis of last week’s jobs report, including thoughts on why a sub-4% unemployment rate poses a problem for a Fed still set on a slow and steady rate hike plan....more
As our loyal readers know, on May 23, 2016, the Second Circuit issued a decision in the In re: LIBOR-Based Financial Instruments Antitrust Litigation vacating the District Court’s prior decision dismissing one case in this...more
On May 23, 2016, the Second Circuit breathed new life into the class action case against 16 banks belonging to the British Bankers’ Association (the Banks), vacating the Southern District of New York’s dismissal of the case...more
On 18 September 2013, the European Commission (the Commission) published a draft proposal for a regulation on indices used as benchmarks in financial instruments and financial contracts (the Regulation). The Regulation will...more