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IBOR Transition Programme

End-to-end management of the IBOR transition programme for a European G-SIB — covering all asset classes, legal remediation, system changes, and regulatory engagement across the full transition lifecycle.

50k+
Contracts remediated across EUR, USD, GBP and CHF benchmarks
4 currencies
Coordinated transition across derivatives, loans, bonds, structured
0
Material client disputes on re-papered contracts post-cutover
24 mo
Full programme duration — delivered within original timeline
Client
European G-SIB
Scope
All Asset Classes
Duration
24 months
Outcome
Full transition achieved

The Context

With the discontinuation of LIBOR and other interbank offered rates, the client — a major European G-SIB with significant IBOR exposure across derivatives, loans, bonds, and structured products — needed a comprehensive transition programme. The bank's IBOR exposure spanned EUR, USD, GBP, and CHF benchmarks across multiple business lines, with over 50,000 contracts requiring remediation. The programme required coordination across front office, legal, operations, IT, and risk management, with tight regulatory deadlines and significant operational risk.

Our Role

A benchmark transition is a transformation masquerading as a compliance project. We deployed the Ezelman SCALE™ ladder — five sequential rungs that turned 50,000 contracts into a manageable, staged programme rather than a panic sprint.

Framework applied · Ezelman SCALE™
Five rungs that staged the transition across 24 months
S
SUNSET

Retired legacy IBOR pricing engines, fallback libraries and ad-hoc spreadsheets before re-papering.

C
CONSOLIDATE

Single contract repository across derivatives, loans, bonds, structured — no duplicated inventories.

A
AUTOMATE

Re-papering engine with ISDA-protocol logic, auto-matched counterparties — 80% contracts touchless.

L
LEVERAGE

Anomaly detection on fallback triggers and hedge effectiveness — caught 12 material accounting mismatches.

E
ELEVATE

Post-cutover operating model — treasury, risk, accounting share one benchmark master. Zero dispute risk.

Peer programmes
12-18 mo
Post-cutover remediation and dispute resolution typical at peer G-SIBs on unstaged transitions
This mandate
0 months
Post-cutover remediation: the staging under SCALE meant the cutover was the end, not the start.

Programme Design & Governance

Designed the full programme governance framework — steering committee structure, workstream definitions, milestone tracking, and risk escalation protocols. Established 8 workstreams covering product remediation, legal documentation, system changes, risk management, client communication, regulatory reporting, accounting impact, and operational readiness.

Contract Remediation

Led the remediation of 50,000+ contracts across all asset classes. Developed a prioritisation framework based on economic materiality, fallback clause adequacy, and regulatory deadline proximity. Coordinated with legal teams on ISDA protocol adherence, bilateral amendments, and tough legacy identification.

Risk & Valuation Impact

Managed the quantification of P&L and risk impacts from benchmark transition — including curve construction changes, valuation methodology updates, hedge effectiveness re-assessment, and VaR model recalibration. Delivered impact assessments to senior management and the board risk committee.

Regulatory Engagement

Coordinated all supervisory communications including ECB reporting on transition progress, EBA benchmark regulation compliance, and national competent authority notifications. Prepared quarterly supervisory updates and managed ad-hoc data requests from the SSM inspection team.

Key Deliverables

Programme Governance Framework

Complete programme charter, RACI matrix, risk register, and milestone tracker covering all 8 workstreams and 24-month execution timeline.

Contract Inventory & Remediation Tracker

Comprehensive database of 50,000+ IBOR-referencing contracts with remediation status, fallback analysis, and priority scoring across all asset classes.

Fallback & Spread Adjustment Analysis

Quantitative analysis of fallback rate methodologies, spread adjustment impacts, and P&L transfer effects across all benchmark currencies and product types.

System Migration Documentation

Technical specifications for 12 core system changes — including curve construction, trade booking, pricing engines, risk systems, and regulatory reporting platforms.

Client Communication Programme

Structured client outreach covering 2,000+ institutional counterparties — consent solicitation, protocol adherence tracking, and bilateral amendment coordination.

Regulatory Reporting Package

Quarterly ECB transition progress reports, EBA compliance documentation, and supervisory presentation materials for SSM engagement.

Results

The transition delivered comprehensive, on-schedule programme execution:

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