October "big bang" crucial to SOFR liquidity - panelist

The “big bang” in October, marking the transition to SOFR discounting, is one of two crucial events set for the second half of 2020 as the industry transitions away from Libor, a panelist has said.

Subadra Rajappa, managing director and head of US rates strategy at Société Générale, said the October shift, as well as the adoption of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association’s (ISDA) fallbacks protocol, will be key to providing liquidity for derivatives based on the US rate SOFR.

But Rajappa questioned whether the end-investor community will be adequately prepared during a virtual conference hosted by New York-based ISDA on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the path forward for Libor transition.

“I think from my perspective dealers will get...