The FCA, the Bank of England, and members of the Working Group on Sterling Risk-Free Reference Rates have stated that firms should still plan for the transition away from LIBOR at the end of 2021.

By Becky Critchley, Jonathan Ritson-Candler, and Anna Lewis-Martinez

On 25 March 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), after discussions with the Bank of England and the Working Group on Sterling Risk-Free Reference Rates, published a statement confirming that “[t]he central assumption that firms cannot rely on LIBOR being published after the end of 2021 has not changed and should remain the target date for all firms to meet”. The FCA does, however, recognise that the impact of COVID-19 may affect some of the interim transition deadlines, in particular within the loan market.

The full FCA statement can be found here.