Libor Transition Deadlines Are Under Debate by U.K. Regulators

Regulators in the U.K. are weighing the threat of the coronavirus on the move away from Libor, once dubbed the world’s most important number.

While the deadline for the benchmark’s demise remains at the end of 2021, the “FCA, Bank of England and Risk Free Rate Working Group are assessing the likely impacts of coronavirus on transition progress to meet that deadline,” the Financial Conduct Authority said in an emailed statement.

The authorities had been accelerating plans to retire the benchmark, which is used to underpin bonds and loans worth trillions of dollars. The Libor Interbank Offered Rate was ...