ICC Qatar organises webinar on LIBOR transition

The International Chamber of Commerce Qatar (ICC Qatar) in collaboration with Refinitiv and Ernst & Young, held a webinar yesterday on ‘Beyond LIBOR: Challenges, Developments and Opportunities in the LIBOR Transition’.

The webinar was comprised of keynote presentations from Alexandre Hardouin, Director, Fixed Income Desktop, Refinitiv, Kedar Desai, Director, Financial Services, Ernst & Young Consulting, and Vincenzo Dimase, Global Director, Sales Strategy & Execution, FX & Post Trade Refinitiv.

The webinar highlighted; the new benchmark rates (SOFR, SONIA, €STR, SARON, TONA, Cash Rate AONIA, Enhanced CORRA, SORA, and HONIA), the techniques to manage the transition, and the next steps to follow. The virtual event was attended by bank representatives, legal experts, and many private companies, including insurance companies and exchange firms.

In his speech, Vincenzo Dimase opened the webinar by saying “As a trusted partner, Refinitiv delivers the data, tools, analytics and support that firms need for a smooth transition. Following the Alternative Reference Rates Committee’s (ARRC) March 2021 announcement that it had selected Refinitiv, we have launched USD IBOR Cash Fallbacks to facilitate the industry transition away from USD LIBOR”.

The second session was delivered by Kedar Desai. He added “AS USD LIBOR transition to SOFR gathers momentum in 2022, it will be interesting to see if the market for credit sensitive rates develops further. Currently it has not been endorsed by regulatory bodies, though we have seen low volumes of trades using credit sensitive rates.”

Alexandre Hardouin delivered the third session of the webinar. Addressing the participants, he stated: “In December 2021, LIBOR setting publication ceased on over two dozen settings. But the transition is far from over as phasing out continues for legacy contracts, USD / EUR have not fully migrated to new RFRs and other jurisdictions are just starting their Libor migration journey”.