Refinitiv, a business of London Stock Exchange Group, has launched the Tokyo Swap Rate (for swaps referencing TONA) to facilitate the industry transition from LIBOR. In March 2021, FCA, UK’s financial regulatory body, mentioned that all Japanese Yen LIBOR settings would cease to be published in their current form after 31 December 2021.
Refinitiv termed the latest launch as an important step for the transition from LIBOR. The company also outlined the need for transparent rates in the global financial sector. The new benchmark is administered by RBSL in compliance with the UK Benchmark Regulation .
In terms of primary data, Refinitiv sources the data from Tradeweb. In contrast, the company source secondary data from TP ICAP. According to Refinitiv, the data is collected during 20-minute windows shortly before publication at 10:30 (Tokyo time) and 15:30 (Tokyo time) daily.
“As the global financial markets migrate away from LIBOR, the launch of our Tokyo Swap Rate (for swaps referencing TONA) serves as a critical step to facilitate this transition to the new market convention,” said Jacob Rank-Broadley, Head of LIBOR Transition, Benchmarks & Indices at LSEG.
“Now more than ever the industry requires robust and transparent rates that are administered by an experienced provider and subject to the highest regulatory standards, so markets can continue to function and grow even during periods of great uncertainty and stress,” Rank-Broadley added.
Accessibility
As far as access is concerned, the Tokyo Swap Rate is available on different products of Refinitiv, including Workspace, Eikon, DataScope and Refinitiv Real-Time. Refinitiv mentioned that firms can start using the benchmark immediately in production systems and financial contracts.
“Refinitiv is using Tokyo Swap Rate (for swaps referencing TONA) together with a constant spread adjustment in line with feedback from industry consultation to produce prototype Tokyo Swap Rate Fallback settings,” the company added.
Refinitiv is one of the world’s leading providers of financial markets data and infrastructure. The company has over 40,000 customers and nearly 400,000 end-users around the world.
