Killing Libor Proves Harder Than Global Regulators Imagined

Concerns over legacy contracts prompt a delay to transition
Disorderly phase-out seen as a risk to financial stability

Pedestrians pass skyscrapers in the Canary Wharf business, financial and shopping district of London, U.K., on Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. Londoners are steadily increasing their use of public transport after schools reopened, freeing parents to go back to the workplace.Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

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By Liz Capo McCormick, William Shaw, and James Hirai

December 1, 2020 at 6:00 AM UTC

Updated on

December 1, 2020 at 12:07 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Purging Libor from the financial system is proving no easy task.

For more than three years, regulators have steadfastly maintained that the beleaguered London interbank offered rate would be phased out at the end of 2021. On Monday, they abruptly gave ground and pushed back the date of dollar Libor’s anticipated demise by 18 months.