What Happens When LIBOR Ends?

By: Jason Amster, Practical Guidance

This article describes how you should proceed when your client calls and asks what happens to their loan documents after the pending cessation of London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) at the end of 2021.

LENDER AND BORROWER CLIENTS WITH CREDIT AGREEMENTS that extend past that date and borrowers entering into new financings are asking their lawyers how their financings address the potential loss of LIBOR. This article explains what to look for to ensure that your credit agreement contemplates the end of LIBOR—and what to do if it does not.

The End of LIBOR

LIBOR (often referred to as the Eurodollar Rate in credit agreements) is the baseline pricing mechanism in loan agreements and many other contractual arrangements. It is flexible and widely accepted, being available for several maturities ranging from overnight to one year and is calculated in five currencies. However, following the LIBOR manipulation scandal of 2012, banks themselves no longer wanted to report LIBOR, for fear of also becoming embroiled in LIBOR-related trouble. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the regulator overseeing LIBOR, said that it would no longer require banks to provide LIBOR estimates at the end of 2021. CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE IF YOU ARE A PRACTICAL GUIDANCE SUBSCRIBER