The Government announced amendments to the Benchmarks Regulations (BMR) on June 23, which would give the FCA enhanced powers to help manage and direct an orderly wind-down of critical benchmarks such as LIBOR.
Under this new legislation the FCA would be able to direct the LIBOR administrator to change the methodology used to compile the benchmark, if doing so would protect consumers and market integrity. This would not make the benchmark representative again, but it would stabilize certain LIBOR rates during a wind-down period so that limited use in legacy contracts (where amendment wasn’t possible) could continue.
The FCA will publish how it will make use of these powers after further engagement with UK and international stakeholders. They also noted that even if regulatory action is possible, parties relying on it will not have any control over its economic terms and it will not replicate exactly the preferred structures expected in new markets.
The FCA statement can be found here, the Government’s announcement can be found here and further FCA information for market participants can be found here.
