The ARRC is hosting The SOFR Symposium: The Final Year, a webinar series which highlights the significance of the LIBOR transition in its final year. The symposium sessions include panel discussions and presentations from ARRC members and representatives across various ARRC member institutions. Participants will have the opportunity to join engaging and dynamic sessions that give market participants practical guidance and answer any transition questions they have.

The dates and topics are below, and detailed information is available at this page.

• Symposium 1: March 22 from 1:30 PM – 3:30 PM EDT
  
  The first symposium focused on progress in transitioning away from LIBOR, and on areas such as the loan market where progress has been slower.
  
  
  • Agenda
  • Webcast recording
  • Presentation



• Symposium 2: May 11 from 10:30 AM – 12:15 PM EDT
  
  The second symposium highlighted the significance of the LIBOR transition for financial stability, the importance of moving off of LIBOR in a sustainable way, and will also feature a discussion among market participants about loan market development in the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR).
  
  
  • Agenda
  • Webcast recording



• Symposium 3: June 8 from 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM EDT
  
  The third event built on the ARRC's first and second events in the SOFR Symposium series by covering the transition away from LIBOR to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) in the derivatives market.
  
  
  • Agenda
  • Webcast recording



• Symposium 4: July 21 from 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM EDT
  
  The fourth event built off of previous events and opened with an update on the SOFR First Initiative that is being led by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) Market Risk Advisory Committee's (MRAC) Interest Rate Benchmark Reform Subcommittee. The first panel was followed by a discussion about the ARRC's continued progress towards formally recommending the CME SOFR Term Rates.
  
  
  • Agenda
  • Webcast recording
  • Presentation



• Symposium 5: September 20 from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT
  
  

  The fifth symposium covered the transition from the perspectives of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and buy-side institutions and featured remarks by SEC Chair Gary Gensler followed by a discussion featuring leadership from the buy-side on their experience transitioning away from LIBOR, how SOFR supports their efforts, and the impacts of U.S. supervisory guidance about the transition.

  • Agenda
  • Webcast recording


• Symposium 6: October 26 from 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM EDT
  
  

  The ARRC will host the sixth event in in The SOFR Symposium: The Final Year series on October 26, 2021. The upcoming event will continue to cover the transition away from LIBOR to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) from the perspectives of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and banks and borrowers. The event will open with remarks by Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu, who will discuss the importance of maintaining trust in the banking system during the transition from LIBOR to replacement rates. This will be followed by a discussion featuring leadership from various banks and borrowers on their efforts to prepare for the U.S. supervisory guidance advising firms to end new LIBOR issuances by year-end, and how they are taking the ARRC';s recent "time to move" recommendation into account to do so.

  This Symposium will air live as a webinar at 11:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, October 26. It is available for members of the public and the press to register here. Note that capacity is limited so registration and viewing is on a first come, first serve basis. For those who register after capacity has been reached, note that a recording will be available shortly afterwards on the ARRC's website.

  The agenda is as follows.

  • Introduction
  • Introduction by Tom Wipf, ARRC Chair and Vice Chairman of Institutional Securities at Morgan Stanley
    
    
  • Insights from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
  • Remarks by Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu
  • This will be followed by a moderated discussion
    
    
  • Views from Banks and Borrowers on Transitioning from LIBOR
  • Discussion will include the following panelists:
  • Roger Bongiovanni, JPMorgan Chase
  • Amol Dhargalkar, Chatham Financial
  • Joyce Frost, Riverside Risk Advisors LLC
  • Brian Grabenstein, Wells Fargo

   

The ARRC hosted a SOFR Summer Series, a webinar series designed to educate the public on the history of LIBOR; the development and strengths of the SOFR; progress made in the transition away from LIBOR to date; and how to ensure organizations are ready for the end of LIBOR.

The dates and topics are below, and detailed information is available at this page.

• July 13: Libor: Entering the Endgame (webcast recording)
• July 15: SOFR Explained (webcast recording and presentation)
• July 22: Preparing to move from LIBOR Derivatives (webcast recording and presentation)
• July 29: Accounting/Tax/Regulation (webcast recording and presentation)
• August 3: Approaching the Transition (webcast recording and presentation)
• August 7: Office Hours Live (webcast recording and presentation)

ARRC representatives hosted a webcast on Monday, June 1, 2020. A recording of the webcast can be viewed via this link and a follow-up message can be found here.

ARRC representatives hosted a webcast on Monday, February 10, 2020 to answer vendors' questions. A recording of the webcast can be viewed via this link.

The Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC) will host a vendor workshop on Friday, June 28, from 9:30 AM to noon at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The workshop will provide a forum for members of the ARRC's Operations/Infrastructure Working Group to collaborate with key vendors of software and technology that are critical to operationalizing the transition to SOFR. Vendors that are interested in participating in the workshop and learning more about the LIBOR transition should email arrc@ny.frb.org to register. Please note that while the ARRC will try to accommodate all vendors that are interested in participating, space is limited and attendance is at the ARRC's discretion.

• Agenda
• Presentation slides by David Bowman, Federal Reserve Board of Governors

The Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC) and the NYU Stern School of Business and its Salomon Center for the Study of Financial Institutions co-hosted a half-day forum on Monday, June 3, 2019. The forum featured remarks by Vice Chair for Supervision Randal K. Quarles and ARRC Chair Tom Wipf, as well as presentations and panel discussions about how market participants can use SOFR in cash products, about the ARRC's recommended fallback language, and about steps that some firms are taking to transition away from LIBOR.

• Agenda
• Webcast
• Remarks by Vice Chair for Supervision Randal K. Quarles, Federal Reserve Board of Governors
• Presentation slides by ARRC Chair Tom Wipf
• Presentation slides by David Bowman, Federal Reserve Board of Governors
• Presentation slides for panel discussion on "Creating Safer Fallbacks"