It seems a world away that we published our inaugural edition of IBOR Aware in February. At that point, momentum behind IBOR transition was building strongly, regulators had declared 2020 to be a decisive year in the shift away from IBORs and efforts were ramping up to embrace the market-wide adoption of risk-free rates.
Three months on, the world, society and financial markets look very different with the COVID-19 pandemic having wreaked unprecedented levels of economic and social disruption and seemingly leaving few markets unscathed. And, as we publish this second edition of IBOR Aware, it seems the light at the end of the tunnel is beginning to emerge for many of us.
Notwithstanding the impact of COVID-19, there have been some important developments in the roadmap for IBOR transition over the past few months. By drawing on our lawyers' deep knowledge and understanding of global and domestic financing transactions across all the key financial markets, IBOR Aware covers the main developments affecting all major benchmark rates and currencies, as well as efforts undertaken by the key players in the market, such as working groups, central banks, regulators and trade associations.
In this second edition of IBOR Aware, we provide a "lookback" on the major developments since February 2020. Our inaugural edition is also available below which incorporated major developments since September 2019.
