FHFA Announces New Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac LIBOR Transition Resources
The Federal Housing Finance Agency yesterday announced Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac launched new websites that provide resources for lenders and investors as they transition away from the London Interbank Offered Rate.
LIBOR is expected to stop being published at the end of 2021.
The websites include information about resources and products, including the GSEs’ jointly published LIBOR Transition Playbook and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
“To protect our nation’s housing finance markets, FHFA has directed the entities we regulate to transition away from LIBOR,” said FHFA Director Mark Calabria. “These resources will help market participants to likewise move away from LIBOR in a safe and sound manner.”
Available on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac webpages, the Playbook describes key transition milestones and recommended actions for stakeholders to consider as they manage the upcoming transition away from LIBOR. Together with the accompanying FAQs, these tools are designed to help participants plan and adapt business policies, procedures and processes to support products linked to alternative reference rates, discontinue most LIBOR-indexed products by the end of 2020, and prepare for discontinuing the use of LIBOR as an index.
“Fannie Mae’s LIBOR Transition webpage is a resource for lenders and investors to access key updates and information during this historic shift in the markets,” said Fannie Mae Senior Vice President and Treasurer Bob Ives. “Today’s announcement marks an important milestone in the transition from LIBOR to an alternative reference rate. We remain committed to ensuring a successful transition for our products.”
The GSEs also announced updates related to transitioning their Credit Risk Transfer programs and their collateralized mortgage obligations, including the cessation dates for new issuances indexed to LIBOR and the expected dates for new issuances indexed to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR). Details of these important milestones are available on the Enterprises’ LIBOR Transition webpages.
MBA Education will hold a webinar today, May 29, on LIBOR Transition: Update for Tax & Accounting Professionals. The webinar is free for MBA members and will discuss the transition in the financial markets to phase out LIBOR as the predominant interest rate benchmark. More information is available at https://www.mba.org/store/events/webinar/libor-transition-update-for-tax-and-accounting-professionals.
