The scandal-plagued Libor benchmark is likely to be replaced by a dual-track system with survey-based lending rates running alongside transaction-linked indices as soon as next year.
Martin Wheatley, the UK regulator leading efforts to reform the London Interbank Offered Rate, told the Financial Times a parallel system would provide continuity for holders of $350tn in existing contracts that reference Libor while also paving the way for a new benchmark tied more closely to objective data.
But the plan could set up a conflict with US regulators, who recently called for a “prompt” switch to transaction-based rates. Gary Gensler, chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which spearheaded the Libor probe, told the FT the existing system was “unsustainable” in the long run because banks were not doing enough unsecured lending to make accurate estimates.