Finastra launches LIBOR transition calculator service
Fusion LIBOR Transition Calculator enables market participants to calculate their own ARR / RFR based rates and interest accruals
London, UK, June 24, 2020 - Finastra announced today the availability of Fusion LIBOR Transition Calculator, a service that enables banks to calculate Alternate Reference Rates (ARR) or Risk-Free Rates (RFR). The calculator service works independently of Fusion Loan IQ, Finastra’s commercial lending solution. Built on FusionFabric.cloud, Finastra’s open innovation platform, the calculator’s open API facilitates the integration with systems that don’t yet have a solution in place for calculating ARR/RFR rates, thereby significantly reducing operational risk.
“There is no doubt the LIBOR transition is the biggest change the market has seen in lending over the last 20-30 years. The shift away from LIBOR has become even more concerning against a backdrop of economic disruption. The need for a flexible service that can expand over time is more important than ever,” said Robert Downs, Senior Principal Product Manager, Corporate and Syndicated Lending at Finastra. “This calculator will be expanded as ARR methodologies and conventions evolve, protecting our customers from risks associated with complex system changes and ultimately future-proofing their businesses.”
The calculator service independently accesses the ARR/RFR from external official sources such as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for SOFR. It then calculates compounded in arrears rates and daily non-cumulative compounded rates, along with corresponding interest accrual amounts for a set of inputs. Depending upon the rate method chosen, the calculator has the flexibility to calculate the daily compounding rates for the whole period or only for the end date. It follows Finastra’s Fusion Loan IQ ARR calculations, which gives market participants consistent and accurate results.
Peter Rothwell, Partner at KPMG, said, “The imminent transition away from LIBOR is creating significant challenges for banks and lenders. Legacy systems lack the ability to process ARR and RFR priced loans and implementing complex system changes can be costly. The ability to tap into a calculator using APIs will save a significant amount of investment and operational risk.”
Fusion Loan IQ is Finastra’s solution for commercial lending, powering 71% of total syndicated loans around the world. It alleviates the high costs of system and process redundancy within commercial lending operations, as well as increasing transparency, improving risk management and simplifying entry into new markets or business lines. The latest version of the solution, enhanced to support ARR, became available at the end of 2019, providing banks with core capabilities to issue new loans using the replacement rates, allowing them to begin to transition their existing LIBOR portfolio safely.
For further information please contact:
Caroline Duff
Global Head of PR
T: +44 (0)20 3320 5892
E: caroline.duff@finastra.com
www.finastra.com
Harriet Pickering
PR Manager EMEA
T: +44 (0)20 3320 5317
E: harriet.pickering@finastra.com
www.finastra.com
About Finastra
Finastra is building an open platform that accelerates collaboration and innovation in financial services, creating better experiences for people, businesses and communities. Supported by the broadest and deepest portfolio of financial services software, Finastra delivers this vitally important technology to financial institutions of all sizes across the globe, including 90 of the world’s top 100 banks. Our open architecture approach brings together a number of partners and innovators. Together we are leading the way in which applications are written, deployed and consumed in financial services to evolve with the changing needs of customers. Learn more at finastra.com.
About FusionFabric.cloud
FusionFabric.cloud is a scalable, open and collaborative development platform built by Finastra. The secure and proven cloud platform encourages innovation, opening up the company’s core systems through APIs so that third parties can develop applications on top. Fintechs can quickly build and promote apps worldwide. Financial institutions can access or create new services, which their customers are demanding, faster. Visit fusionfabric.cloud
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