For the major IBORs, reform efforts have focused on strengthening their resilience and reliability, including ensuring that they are underpinned by transaction data to the greatest extent possible. But what is perhaps most pertinent is the looming 2021 deadline for when the Financial Conduct Authority will no longer compel banks to contribute to the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR).
There are worries about the possible end of LIBOR, the most notable being the transition of legacy LIBOR-linked contracts to the new reference rates. Elsewhere in Europe, methodological changes have been made to the Sterling Overnight Index Average to strengthen the benchmark, while the method used to calculate the Euro Interbank Offered Rate will be overhauled by 2020.