That new bridge I mentioned a moment ago is up and running. By the end of this month, all lenders should be ready to offer you products linked to SONIA or another non-LIBOR rate. Six or twelve months ago, that wasn’t universally true. Now it is. But don’t just take my word for that. Ask National Express, which took out one of the first SONIA-linked loans.2 Ask Riverside Group, a housing association, which secured a SONIA credit facility during the height of the Covid crisis in early April. 3 Or ask GlaxoSmithKline, which concluded a multi-currency refinanced credit facility linked to both SONIA and its US equivalent SOFR.4  -  Moving away from LIBOR won’t always be easy. But that’s where I come to my third message: which is that you are not in this on your own: for those needing to transition, there is help, and lots of it. The first port of call for most firms should be your own bank, to begin understanding how SONIA can work for your business. But help is also available from many other sources: o  The industry wide Risk Free Rate Working Group has produced educational videos and helpful short guides. These are available on the Bank of England5 and FCA websites and will be sent to everyone attending today’s webinar. o  The Working Group will also be taking forward a programme of engagement with your sector into the end of this year, to help you with transition.
Further details will be given on their LinkedIn page. o  You can find help from the organisations co-sponsoring this event, the Association of Corporate Treasurers and the Confederation of British Industry. Both have a wealth of knowledge and experience with transition – as do UK Finance. o  And, if you don’t see what you need, please ask on this session today or later, via your bank, the Working Group, the ACT, the CBI or UK Finance. We are acutely aware this is a difficult time for many businesses, facing an uncertain future in the midst of the Coronavirus epidemic. But it’s just not safe to keep relying on Libor. And it’s not good for your business 2 https://www.rbs.com/rbs/news/2019/07/natwest-completes-markets-first-sonia-loan-for-national-express.html 3 https://www.riverside.org.uk/riverside-breaks-new-ground-with-sector-first-100m-sonia-revolving-loan-facility/ 4 https://www.allenovery.com/en-gb/global/news-and-insights/news/ao-advises-hsbc-bank-as-coordinator-on-new-risk-free-rate-loan-facilities-for-  glaxosmithkline-plc 5 The Working Group of Sterling Risk-Free Reference Rates website is available at: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/markets/transition-to-sterlingrisk-free-rates-from-libor 3  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/speeches and @BoE_PressOffice  3  either. A benchmark based on guesswork can’t be relied upon to behave in your interests at times of stress. We saw a vivid illustration of just that in March, when the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve both cut official interest rates sharply, but LIBOR rates actually rose – at a time when transactions underpinning those measures were near-zero. It really is time to get off that failing bridge before it closes for good. We’re here to help, and I look forward to our discussions here this morning. 4  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/speeches and @BoE_PressOffice  4