Stibor revisited – a follow-up
Date
26/05/2014
During the course of 2014, the Riksbank has followed up changes in the reference rate Stibor and has reviewed the functioning of the framework. The Riksbank's assessment is that the recommendations on Stibor have been met. The study also shows that Stibor has been set at accurate levels under the new framework on the days it has been possible to study.
A detailed examination of Stibor was begun in the autumn of 2011 and revealed that there were a number of shortcomings in the framework. In two reports, Financial Stability Report 2012:2 and Financial Stability Report 2013:1 , the Riksbank therefore recommended that the banks should improve the framework. In connection with the recommendations, the Riksbank undertook to follow up the changes in Stibor and to review the functioning of the framework. This follow-up has now been presented in a Riksbank Study.
There are two results: First, the Riksbank's assessment is that since November 2013 its previous recommendations have now been met. Second, access to new data has enabled the Riksbank to study how well Stibor corresponds to interest rates in actual transactions. The study shows that Stibor has been set at accurate levels under the current framework. However, as the banks seldom execute transactions at all maturities, there is often a lack of data to compare Stibor with.
The conclusions that have been drawn are based on the data collected in the period April-December 2013.
The study also raises several issues that may be worth discussing in the ongoing work on Stibor; work that is being led by the Swedish Bankers' Association. These issues relate to the requirements that the Stibor framework imposes on the banks and how well adapted these are to the market conditions on the interbank market.
The publication can be downloaded via the links.
