The uncertain future of LIBOR – the London Interbank Offered Rate – and efforts to develop alternative reference rates to serve in its place will be discussed during a Dec. 6 webinar held by the umbrella Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), the council said in a release Monday.
Scheduled from 1-2 p.m. ET, the webinar will provide participants with background information on LIBOR and recent developments in the market, including initiatives of the Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC).(The panel has proposed a Secured Overnight Financing Rate, or SOFR.) The agencies will also answer questions submitted by participants.
The exam council is holding the webinar to promote awareness of the work around the transition from LIBOR, which currently is being eyed for a potential phaseout over the next three years.
“This webinar and other communication activities are part of a broader FFIEC initiative that will inform supervised financial institutions and examiners about the potential transition from LIBOR, including the effect on institutions and financial products,” the FFIEC said in Monday’s announcement. “Staff from FFIEC member agencies will supplement information produced by the ARRC to clarify and highlight potential impacts to supervised financial institutions and to answer questions about the potential transition from LIBOR to an alternative reference rate.”
The ARRC is a group of private-market participants convened by the Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Bank of New York in cooperation with the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Office of Financial Research, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Treasury Department.
The FFIEC is an interagency body that includes representatives from the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP, formerly known as the CFPB), and the State Liaison Committee (SLC).