In Short
The Situation: Financial industries around the
world are addressing the probable cessation of LIBOR interest rates
before 2022 by, among other things, developing language designed to
substitute an industry-approved successor rate—most likely to
be based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR")
for the U.S. dollar—seamlessly in the event of such a
cessation.
The Result: The Alternative Reference Rates
Committee (the "ARRC") has recently released its final
"fallback language" recommendations for USD-denominated
floating rate notes ("FRNs") and syndicated loans. While
the recommended language is "final," it leans heavily on
future market developments to provide fundamental calculation
conventions.