This is the Joint Statement from Federal Reserve, OCC, FDIC and CFPB on LIBOR. No surprises, but continued reinforcement that this will be a top-of-agenda bank supervisory issue in 2022. They will question why you renewed contracts with a defunct LIBOR benchmark. And anytime the Federal Reserve is concerned about ‘safety and soundness’ as it relates to bank practices, one should pay attention.
“TO THE OFFICER IN CHARGE OF SUPERVISION AND APPROPRIATE SUPERVISORY AND EXAMINATION STAFF AT EACH FEDERAL RESERVE BANK AND INSTITUTIONS SUPERVISED BY THE FEDERAL RESERVE
SUBJECT:
Interagency Statement on Managing the LIBOR Transition
Applicability: This letter applies to all institutions supervised by the Federal Reserve, including those with $10 billion or less in consolidated assets.
On October 20, 2021, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (collectively, the agencies) issued a statement (statement) to emphasize the expectation that supervised institutions with LIBOR exposure continue to progress toward an orderly transition away from LIBOR. Additionally, this statement includes clarification on the meaning of new LIBOR contracts, considerations when assessing appropriateness of alternative reference rates, and expectations for fallback language. Failure to adequately prepare for LIBOR’s discontinuance could undermine financial stability and institutions’ safety and soundness and create litigation, operational, and consumer protection risks.
Reserve Banks are asked to distribute this letter to the supervised organizations in their districts and to appropriate supervisory staff. Questions may be sent via the Board’s public website.1
signed by
Michael S. Gibson
Director
Division of
Supervision and Regulation
signed by
Eric S. Belsky
Director
Division of Consumer
and Community Affairs
Attachments:
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