Many firms unprepared for US dollar Libor transition

With less than a year to go, market participants seeking a smooth transition face a number of challenges.

At a Benchmark Strategies Forum meeting back in March, International Swaps and Derivatives Association chief executive Scott O’Malia noted that while Secured Overnight Financing Rate (Sofr) has changed trading conventions in the interdealer market for linear US dollar swaps, cross-currency swaps and non-linear derivatives, it was still important to encourage participants in other market segments and geographies to switch from US dollar Libor.

Since then, volatility in capital markets, specifically lack of deal activity in the leveraged loan market where issuers would normally revisit existing debt, has slowed progress.

Julien Rey-960.jpg
Julien Rey, S&P Global

US financial institutions must get their operations in order so that the operational legacy of Libor doesn’t linger, says Yann Bloch, vice-president product management Americas at NeoXam.

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