Effective Date Set for LIBOR Termination
The Federal Register today includes the FRB’s final rule Implementing the Adjustable Interest Rate (LIBOR) Act, setting the rule’s effective date as February 27. As noted (see FSM Report LIBOR9), the final rule settles many LIBOR transition questions in favor of SOFR, leaving numerous complex implementation questions up in the air despite this added certainty.
Fed Study Finds Card Rewards Result in $15 Billion Wealth Transfer
A new Federal Reserve staff study finds that credit-card rewards annually redistribute approximately $15.1 billion a year to more financially-sophisticated consumers. This result is likely to weigh heavily into debate later this year if, as we expect, Sen. Durbin (D-IL) reintroduces legislation to force card-routing alternatives to Visa and Mastercard (see FSM Report INTERCHANGE10).
ISDA Lays Groundwork for Crypto Rules, Law
The self-regulatory body for global derivatives, ISDA, today released a contractual framework for digital-asset derivatives. These are now likely to be widely adopted by major financial institutions but may not resolve legal-ownership issues when cryptoasset entities use intermediaries or other avenues into global capital markets that obscure contractual rights.