LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s markets watchdog said it has extended the cut off date for ending the use of the Libor interest rate benchmark in new loans until the end of March next year due to the pandemic.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had earlier said that new sterling-denominated loans should cease using the London Interbank Offered Rate from the end of the third quarter of this year as part of a wider transition to the Bank of England’s overnight Sonia rate.
“All new issuance of sterling LIBOR-referencing loan products that expire after the end of 2021 should cease by the end of Q1 2021,” the FCA said in a statement on Wednesday.
It remains the central assumption that firms cannot rely on Libor being published after the end of 2021, the FCA said.
(Reporting by Huw Jones, Editing by Abhinav Ramnarayan)
