Agencies release statement on LIBOR transition

Federal Issues CFPB LIBOR Agency Rule-Making & Guidance FDIC OCC Federal Reserve NCUA Bank Regulatory

On October 20, the CFPB, Federal Reserve Board, FDIC, NCUA, and OCC, in conjunction with the state bank and state credit union regulators, (collectively, “agencies”) released a joint statement regarding the transition away from LIBOR. As previously covered by InfoBytes, the Fed, FDIC, and OCC issued a joint statement encouraging banks to cease entering into new contracts that use LIBOR as a reference rate as soon as practicable, but by December 31, 2021 at the latest. The agencies' October 20 joint statement provides supervisory considerations for institutions when choosing an alternative reference rate, such as, among other things: (i) the meaning of new LIBOR contracts; (ii) understanding how the chosen reference rate is constructed and the fragilities associated with it; and (iii) expectations for fallback language. In addition, the agencies noted that supervised institutions should “develop and implement a transition plan for communicating with consumers, clients, and counterparties; and ensure systems and operational capabilities will be ready for transition to a replacement reference rate after LIBOR’s discontinuation.”