On March 15, President Biden signed, as part of a larger appropriations act, legislation known as the “Adjustable Interest Rate (LIBOR) Act,” which addresses “tough legacy” contracts that do not provide for the use of clearly...more
Homestretch to December 31, 2021, and the end of LIBOR? Not so fast.
All the relevant regulators and other authorities clearly indicated for some time that USD LIBOR would no longer be available after December 31, 2021,...more
The Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”), the UK regulator of LIBOR, announced several years ago that it would no longer compel panel banks to provide LIBOR quotes after December 31, 2021. The FCA also stated in March of this...more
On July 1, 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Farm Credit Administration, and the Federal Housing Finance...more
On March 24, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued final interpretive guidance (the Guidance) regarding retail commodity transactions involving virtual currency. ...more
On March 18, President Trump announced that he will invoke the Defense Production Act of 1950 (DPA), 50 U.S.C. § 4501 et seq., to cope with shortfalls of essential medical supplies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The...more
The reference rate provided by selected panel banks to the LIBOR administrator, ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) and that is used to establish interest rates on many loans, notes, bonds and other financings, derivatives,...more
2/24/2020
/ Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC) ,
Benchmarks ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Contracts Clause ,
Derivatives ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financing ,
Interest Rates ,
Libor ,
Loans ,
Secured Overnight Funding Rate (SOFR) ,
UK
As noted in our Financial Industry Alert published on January 17, 2020, one of the most daunting challenges for the forthcoming transition from LIBOR to an alternative reference rate has to be the impact of the prospective...more
2/7/2020
/ Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC) ,
Benchmarks ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Contract Terms ,
Contracts Clause ,
Due Process ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Interest Rates ,
ISDA ,
Libor ,
Opt-Outs ,
Secured Overnight Funding Rate (SOFR) ,
Sveen v Melin ,
UK
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
1/21/2020
/ Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Instruments ,
Interest Rates ,
Legacy Contracts ,
Libor ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Remediation ,
Risk Assessment ,
Transitional Arrangements ,
Triggering Event
On March 18, the extended comment period ended for the Standardized Approach for Calculating the Exposure Amount of Derivative Contracts (“SA-CCR”) rule (the “Proposed Rule”) proposed by the Federal Reserve Board (“Board”),...more
On April 18, the American College of Investment Counsel (the “ACIC”) released a final version of its Model Form Make-Whole and Swap Breakage Indemnity Language (the “Model Provision”), as well as a substantially similar Swap...more
On May 16, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (“ISDA”) published two consultations in connection with the potential discontinuation of certain interbank offered rates (“IBORs”), seeking input on (i) the...more
6/24/2019
/ Benchmarks ,
Derivatives ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Inter-Bank Offered Rates (IBORs) ,
Interest Rates ,
ISDA ,
Risk Free Rates (RFRs) ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Secured Overnight Funding Rate (SOFR) ,
Swaps ,
UK
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
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) adopted rules (together, the QFC Stay Rules) in 2017...more
In recent years, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has devoted significant resources to addressing how the requirements of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and the regulations thereunder apply to...more
2/28/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Derivatives ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Ether ,
Liability ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Smart Contracts ,
Virtual Currency
On July 12, ISDA initiated a market-wide consultation on technical issues related to new benchmark fallbacks for derivatives referencing certain interbank offered rates, or IBORs, in response to the expected discontinuance of...more
8/24/2018
/ Benchmarks ,
Bitcoin ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Derivatives ,
Digital Currency ,
Dodd-Frank ,
FinTech ,
Foreign Currency ,
Hedging ,
ISDA ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Virtual Currency ,
White Papers
English Supreme Court Brings an End to Dexia - Prato Swap Dispute -
On January 18, the English Supreme Court refused to grant Comune di Prato, an Italian local authority with responsibility for the municipality of Prato in...more
An Overview of Proposed Regulation AT -
Orrick attorneys authored an overview of Regulation Automated Trading (known as "Regulation AT") proposed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") in the May/June 2016...more
8/2/2016
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Derivatives ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Electronic Trading ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Innovative Technology ,
IRS ,
Regulation AT ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Security-Based Swaps ,
Swap Dealers ,
Swaps
The disruptive effects of blockchain technology on the financial system may take several years to materialize. Nevertheless, in preparation, regulators are increasingly focused on understanding potential uses of blockchain...more
8/1/2016
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Derivatives ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Innovative Technology ,
Popular ,
Securities ,
Transparency ,
Virtual Currency
On July 13, 2016, the Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”) approved certain amendments and guidance to the rules governing the reporting and public dissemination of security-based swaps (“SBS”), known as “Regulation SBSR,”...more
Novo Banco and CDS – A Post-Mortem -
The 2014 ISDA Credit Derivatives Definitions updated the previous set of credit derivatives definitions to, among other things, include a credit event for “Governmental Intervention.”...more
4/22/2016
/ CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Derivatives ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Electricity ,
End-Users ,
Financial Markets ,
ISDA ,
Margin Requirements ,
Natural Gas ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Swap Dealers ,
Swaps ,
Trading Platforms
Prudential Regulators Approve Final Uncleared Margin Rules -
In October, the prudential regulators approved a final version of the September 2014 re-proposed rule generally imposing initial and variation margin...more
District Court Holds that Assignee is Not Entitled to Safe Harbor Protections -
On May 28, 2015, the United States District Court for the Central District of California affirmed a bankruptcy court order finding that a...more
First Circuit Rules Bankruptcy Code Preempts Puerto Rico's Recovery Act -
On Monday, July 6, the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the February 6, 2015 order and injunction of the Puerto Rico District...more
7/23/2015
/ Attorney's Fees ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Bonds ,
Capital Controls ,
Distressed Debt ,
Emerging Markets ,
EU ,
Eurozone ,
Greece ,
Insolvency ,
Municipal Bankruptcy ,
Oil & Gas ,
Preemption ,
Puerto Rico ,
Reclamation ,
Restructuring ,
SCOTUS
The result of Sunday’s (5 July 2015) referendum which rejected the latest proposed bailout by the European authorities was unequivocal. The next steps in this crisis are far less clear, ranging from a swift renegotiation of...more
7/8/2015
/ Bailout ,
Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) ,
Banks ,
Capital Controls ,
Capital Markets ,
Continuing Resolution ,
European Central Bank ,
European Stability Mechanism ,
Eurozone ,
Greece ,
Liquidation ,
Referendums ,
Restructuring