LIBOR

The GFOA Debt Committee is working on issuing a similar Libor advisory in advisory in January or February.

The group of around a dozen issuers, bankers, broker-dealers, bond attorneys, and municipal advisors is sorting out their priorities for educating the public finance community.

The next milestone in the shift to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate is expected to be the announcement from the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority before the end of this year declaring Libor as nonrepresentative.

The Louisiana State Bond Commission will refinance $424 million of variable-rate bonds; the deal isn't expected to include the termination of underwater swaps.

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said the transition away from Libor “continues to be of paramount importance.”

The Financial Stability Board issued a statement April 2 affirming that it is sticking with plans to transition away from Libor by the end of 2021.

GASB will release on April 16 a list of delays to various initiatives because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Members of GFOA’s Debt Committee agreed Monday to form a working committee that will publicize the issues involved in the transition among the organization’s more than 21,000 members.

GASB’s final guidance on the Replacement of Interbank Offered Rates is expected to be issued in March, giving state and municipal governments plenty of time to make adjustments before Libor is phased out by the end of 2021.

In formal comments filed with the federal government and separately to GASB, municipal finance groups have given the regulators generally high marks.

Clayton described the Secured Overnight Financing Rate known as SOFR, as “a good risk free benchmark.”

Issuers will be looking to see what Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Jay Clayton says about disclosure.

The sections pertaining to public finance can be implemented immediately.

The proposed transition regulation addresses the possibility that such a modification of a debt instrument, derivative, or other financial contract could be a taxable transaction for federal income tax purposes or could result in other tax consequences.

Issuance using the new Secured Overnight Financing Rate has risen to $265 billion since the beginning of 2019.

Internal Revenue Service enforcement officials told NABL workshop attendees the service is hiring five new revenue agents, up from the current 20, and two additional tax law specialists.

Citibank joins UBS and Deutsche Bank in settling with the State Bond Commission over manipulation of the Libor rate.