In February, Katten conducted a survey of 112 private credit industry professionals that showed how a large percentage of private equity investors and lenders in the private credit industry expect deal flow to increase in...more
On 5 March 2021, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the administrator of LIBOR, ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) each made important announcements for parties to instruments or other contracts referencing LIBOR. ...more
On November 23, 2020, the Loan Market Association (the “LMA”) announced the publication of several new and revised documents, with the purpose of helping market participants incorporate appropriate transition mechanisms into...more
Our Finance Group explains why the transition from the London Interbank Offered Rate remains an essential task amid COVID-19 and urges loan market participants not to wait on devising a transition plan. ...more
It’s time to face up to the fact that financial market participants will soon no longer be able to rely on LIBOR. No one can claim that this comes as a surprise. In 2014, in response to concerns about the reliability and...more
Recent updates from the Bank of England, the New York Federal Reserve, and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association and Bloomberg in connection with publication of IBOR fallback rate adjustments should be welcomed...more
In 2012, the Wheatley Review recommended reform rather than replacement of LIBOR, on the basis that a transition to a new benchmark would pose an unacceptably high risk of financial instability. Reform came in the form of a...more
Much has been written about the influence of US terms on European transactions and particularly the steady migration of US concepts into English law facilities agreements, resulting from the supply-demand imbalance in the...more
Following the announcement that LIBOR is to be replaced, the process of finding a suitable replacement is proving troublesome. Financial Institutions will no longer be required by the FCA to provide LIBOR rates after...more
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced in July 2017 that by the end of 2021, it would stop compelling banks to contribute LIBOR quotes. This announcement, considered by many as the death sentence for LIBOR, has...more
The London Interbank Overnight Rate (“LIBOR”) is an interest rate calculation that is used globally for purposes of debt capital market transactions including bond issuances, loans and derivatives. In particular, LIBOR...more
Six months have now passed since publication of the Dechert OnPoint, LIBOR – Where Are We Now?, and in that period progress on benchmark reform and the development of alternative risk-free-rates (RFRs) has gathered pace. At a...more
While we are waiting on the LMA's Working Sub-Group on Transition Issues in Syndicated Loan Markets to produce draft provisions dealing with the transition to SONIA, their US counterpart, the Alternative Reference Rates...more
With LMA guidance being issued, LIBOR transition continues, but there is still a long way to go. Work continues on the transition to risk-free rates, but progress is slow—FCA publishes timetable and milestones. ...more
A London seminar considers what may become of the long-time benchmark interest rate as it faces possible obsolescence—and what might take its place. Although the 2021 deadline, after which LIBOR will not be supported by...more
After a long and at times scandalous life, LIBOR is retiring. Earlier this year, Andrew Bailey, chief executive officer of the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the regulator of the London Interbank Offered...more
As you may know, on July 27, 2017 the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) chief executive Andrew Bailey announced that market participants should not rely on the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) being available after...more