On September 9, the Market Risk Advisory Committee of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved some “plain” English disclosures concerning the risks of executing new derivative transactions involving interbank offered rates (IBORs) that will be replaced by new benchmark rates in the relatively near future. The disclosures, which are not mandatory, are intended as “helpful examples” of the information that market participants should share, as appropriate, with all clients and counterparties with whom they continue to transact derivatives referencing London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and other IBORs. They are drafted for use on a transaction-by-transaction basis, but alternatively can be delivered as part of general risk disclosures. The disclosures will be submitted to the CFTC for consideration.

The text of the approved disclosures is available here.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) has created a webpage that includes basic information about all the IBORS as a supplement to the disclosures, available here.