Regulators are urging the financial industry to strengthen existing benchmarks for interbank offered rates (IBORs) and to establish and voluntarily adopt alternative reference rates (ARRs) in interest rate applications.
Regulators are also encouraging market participants to include appropriate references to ARRs as standard ICE LIBOR fallback contract language across asset classes.
Central banks and endorsed committees have identified ARRs for certain currencies that rely on ICE LIBOR benchmarks. These include “near-risk free” reference rates (RFRs) like SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate) for USD and SONIA (Sterling Overnight Index Average) for GBP, which are based on significant transaction volumes compared to the underlying market used in the ICE LIBOR calculation.
Market participants are working to establish forward-looking term reference rates for certain currencies, which will become feasible once sufficient transactions develop in derivatives based on the respective ARRs. CME Group believes that a fully transactions-based reference rate consistent with the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks benefit the marketplace.
We are working closely with our customers during this transition, and we will continue to offer capital-efficient choices to manage risk via Eurodollar, 30-Day Federal Fund, SOFR, and SONIA futures, as well as SOFR- and SONIA-based cleared over-the-counter (OTC) swaps.
The Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC) is a group of market participants and official-sector entities convened by the U.S. Federal Reserve Board to help ensure successful adoption of its recommended alternative, SOFR and improved IBOR fallbacks. The ARRC’s Paced Transition Plan has encouraged adoption of SOFR in cash and derivatives markets and contributed to the development of the derivatives market, as set out in the timeline below.
Following the SOFR benchmark’s first publication in April 2018, CME Group launched SOFR futures in May 2018. CME Group also added OTC clearing capabilities for SOFR-based interest rate swaps in October 2018. These initiatives are progressing very well, with 30M SOFR futures traded and 476B in SOFR swaps cleared as of March 2021.
CME Group continues to work with clients and regulators to ensure that each step of the Paced Transition Plan is widely supported by market participants.
CME Group acknowledges the importance of industry alignment on the critical issues of IBOR fallbacks and transition. We aim to keep all market participants informed, as we continue to engage with industry groups, regulators and market participants regarding the triggers and operational processes for fallback to ARRs.
CME Group is fully supportive of efforts by the official sector, ARRC, ISDA and their industry-wide working groups, to improve and strengthen IBOR fallbacks.
Transaction-based
Calculated from overnight US Treasury repurchase (repo) activity
Underpinned by around $975B of daily transactions
"SOFR is a good representation of general funding conditions in the overnight Treasury repo market. As such, it will reflect an economic cost of lending and borrowing relevant to the wide array of market participants active in the market..."
- ARRC
J.P. Morgan has compiled an in-depth review of ICE LIBOR benchmark reform and its implications for the markets.
The ARRC is planning the transition from USD ICE LIBOR to SOFR. Visit the ARRC homepage for more information.
CME Group offers an educational course introducing SOFR as a reference rate as well as some information about CME SOFR futures.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) provides an introduction on how to use SOFR in cash products, including background for SOFR and much more.
CME Group is actively engaging market participants on a potential conversion methodology that addresses the operational and risk management concerns associated with implementing ISDA fallbacks while mitigating any potential disruptions.
CME Term SOFR Reference Rates provide an indicative, forward-looking measurement of SOFR rates, based on market expectations implied from leading derivatives markets.
CME Three-Month SOFR (SR3) futures and One-Month SOFR (SR1) futures launched on May 7, 2018. Their volume and OI growth has placed them among the most successful new products in CME Group’s 171-year history.
In October 2018, CME Group added clearing of OTC SOFR-based swaps.
Explore Cleared OTC SOFR Swaps
In January 2020, CME Group added SOFR options, giving clients a holistic solution for managing SOFR price risk across futures, options, and cleared swaps.
Explore SOFR options
As the €STR and SOFR discounting transitions approach, watch three quick educational videos to answer common questions and discuss how CME Group can help you smoothly navigate these events.
Learn more
The Sterling Overnight Index Average (SONIA) is a transaction-based index that has been administered by the Bank of England (BOE) since April 2016. It has been endorsed by the Sterling Risk-Free Reference Rate Working Group (Working Group) as the preferred risk-free reference rate for Sterling Overnight Indexed Swaps (OIS).
In January 2018, the Working Group added banks, dealers, investment managers, non-financial corporates, infrastructure providers, trade associations and professional services firms. In April 2018, the BOE introduced a series of reforms of the SONIA benchmark.
Transaction-based
Wholesale based (beyond Interbank)
Underpinned by £40-50B daily transactions
The BOE provides an overview of SONIA benchmark determination, publication and governance.
The BOE provides a detailed look into adoption approaches for SONIA and why SONIA was chosen as the preferred RFR for GBP ICE LIBOR.
Watch an educational course about the SONIA rate as well as an introduction to SONIA futures at CME Group.
Sign up for SONIA newsletter.
CME MPC SONIA futures and Quarterly IMM SONIA futures launched on October 1, 2018, and have rapidly gained traction in the marketplace.
CME Group is engaged in several financial industry efforts to examine ICE LIBOR’s long-established role as the world’s most important interest rate benchmark, including participation in the ARRC.
There is no set end date for ICE LIBOR publication.
U.S. dollar fixed income market participants may adopt the new interest rate benchmark.
ICE LIBOR has broader implications beyond CME Eurodollar futures.
If ICE LIBOR were discontinued, there are several layers of fallback provisions for all remaining obligations.
As a prominent ICE LIBOR-reference liquidity pool, CME Eurodollar futures and options remain as strong and reliable as ever.
Market practitioners continue to use CME Eurodollar futures and options as key risk management tools – in expanding numbers.
Average Daily Volume | Average Daily Open Interest | |
Futures | $2.7 Trillion |
$12.6 Trillion |
Options | $1.7 Trillion | $56.1 Trillion |
Notional shown for illustrative purposes only
Eurodollar futures and options are the preferred tool for professional traders who want to express a view on future interest rate moves.
The daily effective federal funds rate (EFFR) is one of the world's most influential IR benchmarks, given its role as the target used by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to guide US monetary policy. EFFR represents the interest rate on overnight federal funds, i.e, USD-denominated, domestic, unsecured, overnight borrowings by depository institutions from other depository institutions and certain other entities, primarily government-sponsored enterprises. The federal funds rate is administered by FRBNY and is based on overnight federal funds transactions reported by banks to the Federal Reserve System in the FR 2420 Report of Selected Money Market Rates. It generally changes when the FOMC announces a change in the desired target level for EFFR for management of US monetary policy.
30-Day Fed Fund futures and options are one of the most widely used tools for hedging short-term interest rate risk.
Data sourced from JPMorgan, CME Group