Introduction
Although the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) is currently the most widely used interest rate benchmark and serves as a price reference for a broad range of financial instruments, the UK Financial Conduct Authority will stop supporting LIBOR at the end of 2021. According to the National Working Group (NWG) on Swiss Franc Reference Rates, the Swiss Average Rate Overnight (SARON) is the proposed replacement standard. The transition period poses several challenges for national and global market participants.
In December 2020 the Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) published guidance on the LIBOR transition in Switzerland. In this guidance, FINMA requires all supervised institutions (eg, banks, securities firms and insurers) to plan and initiate the necessary actions to implement the transition roadmap outlined therein with the goal to be fully prepared and operationally ready for the planned discontinuation of most LIBOR benchmarks by the end of 2021.