The outlook on the transition away from LIBOR and lessons learned about reference rates will be among the featured topics during a Sept. 20 event sponsored by a group that has developed an alternative to the widely used – and soon to be discarded – market indicator, the group said Friday.
According to the Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC), a group created by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (with the Federal Reserve Board of Governors), the event will open with remarks by SEC Chair Gary Gensler. He will speak about the transition from LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate), which is being discontinued after year’s end for new contracts (and phased out by June 2023 for existing contracts).
The event will also, the ARRC said, include a panel from leaders of “buy-side” organizations about their transition away from LIBOR and toward an alternative such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), which was developed by the ARRC. Panelists scheduled to participate include: Rick Chan, PIMCO; Jack Hattem, BlackRock; Gary Horbacz, PGIM Fixed Income; and Tal Reback, KKR Credit.
The Sept. 20 event – titled “The SOFR Symposium: The Final Year” – is the fifth (and, so far, the final) in a series of events held by the ARRC on the transition away from LIBOR and toward SOFR.