On 17 June 2021, the MBA along with its member banks participated in a virtual outreach session organised by the Bank of Mauritius on the phasing out of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). Speakers Ms. Simonetta Iannotti, member of the Secretariat of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), Ms. Leman Menguturk and Mr. Jugvinder Singh, policy analysts of the Sterling Markets Division of the Bank of England, Mr. David Bowman, Senior Associate Director, Monetary Affairs Division, Federal Reserve Board of Governor, and Mr. Ashoo Palayathan, Chairperson of the MBA Working Group (WG) on LIBOR Transition highlighted the various challenges faced by financial institutions relating to the transition, both domestically and internationally.
Some of the key takeaways from the session relate to the following: international collaboration remains crucial to expedite the transition process, regulators have encouraged widespread use of risk free rates as the most robust reference rates for most global markets, the use of the Secure Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) as alternate rate to the USD LIBOR is growing quickly in the derivatives markets, and the use of ISDA spread adjustments in the loan markets is now supported by the Financial Stability Board.