Fallback Provisions

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On November 20, 2020, the working group on euro risk-free rates (the Euro Working Group) published two consultations on fallback rates to EURIBOR. Market participants were invited to provide their views on the potential events that could trigger fallback measures and the fallback rates based on the euro short-term rate (€STR) and spread adjustment methodologies. The results of the consultations show that market participants are not in agreement on all matters relating to transitioning from EURIBOR to €STR.
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Continue Reading A Market Divided: EURIBOR Consultation Shows a Divide Among Market Participants

ISDA’s IBOR Fallbacks Supplement and Protocol came into effect today. These fallbacks, which are discussed in more detail here, will be incorporated with immediate effect into all new derivatives contracts which incorporate the 2006 ISDA Definitions, and in all legacy non-cleared derivatives where both parties have adhered to ISDA’s IBOR Fallbacks Protocol. To date, over 12,000 parties have adhered to the Protocol, which remains open for adherence for the foreseeable future.
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Continue Reading Key Date Reminder: ISDA’s IBOR Fallbacks Goes Live

The IRS recently released Revenue Procedure 2020-44 (“Rev. Proc. 2020-44”) which provides helpful relief to taxpayers by providing that if a contract referencing an IBOR is modified to incorporate specific ISDA or AARC fallback language for the replacement of IBORs, such modification will not cause certain adverse tax consequences, such as exchange treatment under Section 1001 of the Tax Code, or the legging out or termination of integrated transactions under Treasury Regulation Sections 1.1275-6, 1.988-5(c) or 1.148-4(h).
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Continue Reading IRS Revenue Procedure 2020-44: Floating Rate Fallback Flexibility from the Feds

On October 23, 2020, ISDA published its long-awaited IBOR Fallbacks Supplement to the 2006 ISDA Definitions (the Supplement) and Protocol. The publication is a result of years of consultations with regulators and market participants and seeks to provide a solution for the trillions of dollars of IBOR-referencing derivatives contracts.  The Supplement and Protocol provide a standardised and efficient means of transitioning derivatives contracts currently referencing IBORs to risk-free rates.  At present, uptake and market acceptance of these changes has been resounding, as over 700 parties have adhered to the Protocol less than four weeks after its launch.
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Continue Reading “Leave the World Behind” ─ ISDA Publishes 2020 IBOR Fallbacks Supplement and Protocol

On October 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division announced that it had completed its review of ISDA’s proposed amendments to its standard documentation to deal with IBOR discontinuation (by way of a Protocol and Supplement). The DOJ concluded that ISDA’s proposals do not harm competition, and so announced that they will not challenge them. A copy of the letter can be found here.
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Continue Reading U.S. Department of Justice Issues Favourable Business Review Letter to ISDA’s IBOR Supplement and Protocol

As we approach the ARRC’s September 30, 2020 deadline for new issue
syndicated loans to include the ARRC’s recommended hardwired fallback
language, several market sources report that a borrower has included the
language in an amendment to its term loan and revolving facilities
documentation in what appears to be the first example of the language’s
adoption in a syndicated loan.
Continue Reading ARRC Hardwired Fallback Language’s First Adoption in a Syndicated Institutional Loan

ISDA had intended to publish a supplement to the 2006 ISDA Definitions such that new transactions incorporating them would include fallbacks for LIBOR cessation (the Supplement), and a protocol to facilitate amendments to legacy derivate contracts (the Protocol) (for more information, see our earlier blog post). ISDA initially expected publication of the supplement and protocol to occur in the coming months. However, on September 21, 2020 they published a letter in which the Protocol and Supplement timeline was updated.
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Continue Reading ISDA Delays Publication of IBOR Fallbacks, Supplement and Protocol

On August 19, 2020, the ARRC updated its recommended Best Practices for the LIBOR transition in anticipation of the imminent publication of ISDA’s IBOR Fallback Protocol (the “Protocol”) (which we discussed in our earlier blog post, available here).

These updates follow the July 22, 2020 letter from ISDA (the “Letter”) (available here), in…

It’s been a busy summer in the land of LIBOR transition preparation. As part of the ARRC’s ongoing efforts to prepare the cash product markets for the transition to SOFR and away from LIBOR as a benchmark interest rate, it posted ten separate releases between Memorial Day and August 7, 2020, in addition to hosting six “SOFR Summer Series” panel discussions on various SOFR topics (which were recorded and can be accessed here). This blogpost focuses on aspects of the ARRC’s releases relating to business loans.

Read on for more details, but here are a few major takeaways: (1) don’t expect any COVID related delays in the LIBOR sunset schedule – work on implementing hardwired LIBOR fallback language this fall and plan stop using LIBOR by mid-2021; (2) the ARRC now recommends simple SOFR in arrears as the best available fallback rate alternative for most business loans (at least until a term SOFR in advance market develops); and (3) feedback from the business loan market reflects a preference for following ISDA’s lead on LIBOR to SOFR transition issues whenever practicable to facilitate consistency between swaps and business loans (e.g., spread adjustments and certain conventions).…

Continue Reading LIBOR Transition: Business Loans SOFR Summer Wrap Up