Clifford Chance

Practical implications of USD LIBOR panel cessation for “tough legacy” contracts: a brief refresher

LIBOR cessation and contract continuity may seem like “old news”. After all, most LIBOR rates ceased almost 18 months ago – and the last of the “synthetic” rates created for certain Sterling and Japanese Yen tenors will shortly expire. Nonetheless, the impending cessation of the final USD LIBOR panel rates on 30 June 2023 means that questions on legal implications are once again coming to the fore – especially given the FCA’s announced intention to create a time-limited synthetic USD LIBOR rate. This piece provides a brief Q&A refresher.

Implementing the UK Wholesale Markets Review

This snapshot indicates how reforms proposed under the UK Wholesale Markets Review (WMR) will be implemented and also compares proposals with EU measures.

European commercial real estate CLOs: some thoughts on a developing asset class - March 2023

CRE CLOs are likely to be a valuable alternative source of capital to debt fund and other alternative CRE lenders, and there are many more of these lenders around than there used to be.¹ They will appeal to both types, both those who originate smaller loans using warehouse lines and those who write bigger CRE loans with back leverage, ie a repo, TRS (Total Return Swap) or loan-on-loan. In each case the CRE CLO offers a term take out option.

The UK Financial Services and Markets Bill and UK Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill: a comparison

Green expectations: ESMA’s Statement on sustainability prospectus disclosure

ESMA’s July 2023 public statement about sustainability disclosures in prospectuses attracted significant attention. Understandably so. The Statement is directed at National Competent Authorities and provides ESMA’s recommendations to follow when reviewing prospectuses, but issuers will also need to take note.