LIBOR was the principal benchmark used to set interest rates for a vast number of commercial loans, mortgages, securities, derivatives, and other products. For a number of years—certainly at least since July of 2017, and really for several years before—it has been clear that LIBOR would end, but some believed it was not clear exactly when LIBOR would end.
And, as a result, many market participants have continued to use LIBOR as if that end date would surely be in some indefinitely distant future, as if LIBOR would remain available forever. Earlier this year, however, things changed, and changed significantly.