05-06-2015
Corporates can have a say on industry rate benchmarks
Corporations and their treasury/corporate finance teams need reliable, robust and frequent benchmarks against which they can confidently set pricing, make independent valuations and measure performance. The so-called LIBOR rate rigging scandals, followed by evidence of bank-rigging of the FIX fx benchmark has undermined the confidence of benchmark users in offshore jurisdictions. Based on responses to an industry survey conducted in 2013, most corporate treasurers in Australia reported using local benchmarks such as BBSW, not IBOR benchmarks, and reported a relative comfort/satisfaction with existing benchmarks. Now given the ASIC inquiry announced in 2014 into alleged manipulation of BBSW is now receiving more media coverage, those numbers may have shifted.