David Felsenthal is a partner at Clifford Chance LLP focusing on financial transactions. This post is based on a Clifford Chance client memorandum. For further analysis of the final report, see PricewaterhouseCoopers’s memo that was sent to us by Vincent O’Sullivan, available here.
The final report of the Wheatley Review on LIBOR has been published. The report concludes that LIBOR should be retained as a benchmark, but, as expected, recommends a comprehensive reform of LIBOR, which includes replacing the British Bankers Association (BBA) with a new independent administrator of LIBOR. Given the different contexts (as well as the number and types of transactions) in which LIBOR is used, the report raises various questions which should be considered by market participants as to the implications of the recommendations for existing and future transactions.
This briefing outlines the ten-point plan for reform set out in the report. It concludes by setting out some of the matters which should be considered by market participants involved in LIBOR linked transactions.