Finance Watchdogs Ramp Up Pressure For Libor Transition

Partner Bambos Tsiattalou comments on the news that the FCA and the Bank of England have ramped up the pressure for Libor transition, in Law360.

Bambos’ comments were published in Law360, 16 January 2020, and can be found here.

“Banks and insurers must act now to move away from the scandal-hit Libor benchmark interest rate, the FCA and Bank of England have said, as they set out milestones that companies should hit in 2020 or face potential regulatory action.

The regulators set out a timeline today that banks and insurers should follow to distance themselves from referring to the discredited benchmark in their financial products. They are being urged to stop issuing new cash products linked to Libor by the end of September and make plans to move existing products underpinned by the rate by the start of 2021….

…The industry said the proposals could be difficult to implement.

“The FCA’s call to see demonstrative evidence of firms shifting away from Libor could prove difficult,” Bambos Tsiattalou, specialist financial crime lawyer and founding partner of Stokoe Partnership Solicitors. “The time-frame is quite simply unattainable. Whilst this move suggests a firm hand from the authorities, it lacks realism and therefore undermines the objective.””