Photo of J. Paul Forrester

J. Paul Forrester

Subscribe to J. Paul Forrester's Posts

Paul Forrester is a respected corporate finance and securities lawyer whose practice is especially focused on structured credit, including collateralized loan obligations, energy (including oil and gas, utilities, shipping, refinery and pipeline) financings and project development, and financing (especially concerning renewable energy, industrial, petrochemical, power and transportation projects and infrastructure).

View full profile on MayerBrown.com.

 

Contact:Read more about J. Paul Forrester
Compare The Best Mortgage Rates, Consumer Credit Comparison

By now most, if not all, financial market participants know that the recommended alternative for the London InterBank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) for U.S. Dollars is the Secured Overnight Funding Rate (“SOFR”). Many also are aware that, in addition to SOFR, five additional benchmark rates and/or spread adjustments have been proposed to replace LIBOR. These alternative benchmarks generally capture the cost of unsecured bank borrowing, which is the cost that LIBOR also reflects and which is a rate that is more relevant to the way many banks fund themselves than SOFR, which is a secured overnight rate based on transactions in U.S. Treasury securities.
…
Continue Reading Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Muse; Which LIBOR Alternative Shall I Choose?

Negative Interest Rates

Testimony at a virtual hearing on Thursday, April 15, 2021, of the Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets of the US House Committee on Financial Services reinforced regulatory support for federal legislation to facilitate the transition from LIBOR.
…
Continue Reading Recent Congressional Hearing Indicates that Federal LIBOR Transition Assistance Law Increasingly Likely

Man looking through telescope standing on top of percentage sign. Concept business illustration

On April 7, 2021, the proposed New York “legislative solution” for legacy USD LIBOR contracts became Article 18-C of the New York General Obligations Law. Article 18-C is primarily aimed at USD LIBOR contracts, securities or instruments (e.g., floating rate notes (“FRNs”), loans, securitizations and mortgages) with the 2006 ISDA Definitions LIBOR fallbacks, or no fallback provisions at all, and which are governed by New York law. This article focuses on the law’s effect on USD LIBOR FRNs.
…
Continue Reading The New York LIBOR Legislative Solution Becomes Law

Searching for Interest Rate

In a flurry of legislative activity on 24 March 2021, the New York State Senate and Assembly passed bills that, once signed by Governor Cuomo, will facilitate the transition from LIBOR of “tough legacy” contracts that are governed by New York law and that do not include adequate interest rate fallback provisions that contemplate a…

Question Mark Concept

On March 9, 2021, the US Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“FRB”) issued SR 21-7, Assessing Supervised Institutions’ Plans to Transition Away from the Use of the LIBOR, providing guidance to its bank examiners on how to assess the progress of supervised institutions in preparing to transition away from U.S. dollar (USD) LIBOR as a reference rate.[1] This guidance is intended to complement the Interagency Statement on LIBOR Transition that FRB issued in November 2020, which encouraged supervised firms to cease entering into new contracts that reference LIBOR as soon as practicable and noted that entering into such contracts after December 31, 2020, would create safety and soundness risks.
…
Continue Reading US FRB Issues Examiner Guidance for Assessing LIBOR Transition Progress

Happy New Year 2021 - Christmas Gold Blue Glitter

On 5 March 2021, ICE Benchmark Administration (“IBA”), the administrator of LIBOR, released the much anticipated feedback statement (“Cessation Statement”) reporting the results of its 4 December 2020 Consultation on Potential Cessation. IBA consulted on the issue of LIBOR publication cessation because “a majority of LIBOR panel banks had communicated to IBA that they would not be willing to continue contributing to the relevant LIBOR settings after [the proposed cessation] dates.” Pursuant to the Cessation Statement, IBA intends to cease publication of (i) all GBP, EUR, CHF and JPY LIBOR settings, and the 1 Week and 2 Month USD LIBOR settings immediately following the LIBOR publication on 31 December 2021, and (ii) the Overnight and 1, 3, 6 and 12 Month USD LIBOR settings immediately following the LIBOR publication on 30 June 2023, subject to any rights of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”), the regulatory supervisor of IBA, to compel IBA to continue publication using a changed methodology. Individual non-confidential responses to the consultation, of the 55 responses received, can be viewed on the IBA website.
…
Continue Reading IBA Sets LIBOR Publication Cessation Dates and Triggers a LIBOR Transition Event

New year 2021 and 2020 on sandy beach with waves

In testimony on Wednesday, February 24, 2021 before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Jerome Powell, responded to questions regarding LIBOR transition from Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA), Chairman of the Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets Subcommittee. Sherman had asked Powell: “In your view, is it necessary to have federal legislation to have a smooth transition after June 2023 when LIBOR is no longer published?”
…
Continue Reading US FRB Chair Powell Signals Support for Federal LIBOR Transition Assistance Legislation

Action Plan 2021 Directional Road Sign On Yellow Background

On February 10, 2021 (and updated on October 18, 2021), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) released a self-assessment tool to assist the institutions that it regulates in preparing for the expected cessation of the London InterBank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”).[1]
…
Continue Reading OCC Releases LIBOR Transition Self-Assessment Tool

Background of international currency notes

As preparation for the transition from the London Interbank Offered Rate and similar interbank offered rates to replacement benchmark interest rates quickly accelerates, we explore a number of recent core global developments affecting structured finance products.

Read the full article from the Winter 2020 issue of our Structured Finance Bulletin.

Money Saving in 2021

On November 30, 2020, ICE Benchmark Administration (“IBA”), the administrator of U.S. Dollar LIBOR (“USD LIBOR”) and other IBORs, lowered the pressure with respect to the upcoming cessation of USD LIBOR. IBA announced that, following a consultation in December and January, (i) it intends to cease publication of 1-week and 2-month USD LIBOR at the…