MAS Expands Mandate of Industry Steering Committee to Drive SIBOR Transition

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced today that the mandate of the Steering Committee for SOR Transition to SORA (Committee) will be expanded to enable it to oversee the interest rate benchmark transition from SIBOR to SORA. ^[1]  This follows a joint industry report published today announcing the discontinuation of the remaining SIBOR tenors in phases over the next four years.  The Committee will be renamed as the Steering Committee for SOR & SIBOR Transition to SORA (SC-STS).

2   Comprising senior representatives from key banks in Singapore, relevant industry associations, and MAS, the Committee was established by MAS in August 2019 to oversee the SOR transition to SORA, and is chaired by Mr Samuel Tsien, Group CEO of OCBC Bank and Chairman of The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS). In its expanded role, the SC-STS will also be responsible for providing strategic direction on SIBOR transition to SORA, and oversee its smooth implementation. The list of SC-STS members is in Annex A.

3   SIBOR is a key interest rate benchmark in Singapore that is widely used in retail mortgages and corporate loans. In July 2020, ABS, the Singapore Foreign Exchange Market Committee (SFEMC), and the SC-STS published its recommendations to discontinue SIBOR, and to shift to the use of SORA as the main interest rate benchmark for SGD financial markets. The industry today published a response to the feedback received, noting strong support from bank and non-bank respondents, and setting out the key timelines for SIBOR discontinuation by end-2024.

^[1] SIBOR is the Singapore Interbank Offer Rate published by the ABS Benchmarks Administration Co Pte Ltd (ABS Co). SORA is the Singapore Overnight Rate Average published by MAS, and reflects the volume-weighted average rate of all SGD overnight cash transactions brokered in Singapore between 9:00 am to 6:15 pm. SOR is the SGD Swap Offer Rate published by the ABS Co.