Euribor-EBF is an international non-profit making association which was founded in 1999 with the launch of the euro. Its members are national banking associations in Member States. Euribor-EBF serves a number of purposes including the development and support of activities related to the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor), which is the money market reference rate for the euro.

On 11 January 2013, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) published the joint EBA-ESMA report on the administration and management of Euribor. The joint report included a set of recommendations to Euribor-EBF to address what the EBA and ESMA had identified as weaknesses and insufficiencies in the governance and technical framework of Euribor (the Recommendations).

Significant progress

The report notes that Euribor-EBF has made significant progress in implementing the Recommendations. The work completed by Euribor-EBF and its on-going reform efforts are suited to raise transparency of the benchmark-setting process, enhance governance of the benchmark, and improve the quality of the resulting index.

Further attention

However, the report also notes that the implementation of some of the Recommendations require further attention. In particular, the Euribor-EBF reform measures are undertaken in the wider context of concurrent reform efforts at the regulatory level, including the proposed EU legal framework for benchmarks, the Principles for Benchmarks as provided by the EBA-ESMA and IOSCO, and the work on system reform undertaken by the FSB. In addition, they need to respond to any new industry standards and best practices as administrators of interbank offered rates around the world are making advances on improving their systems, methods, governance, transparency and contingency provisions.

The ESMA and EBA will continue to monitor the implementation of the Recommendations and may provide guidance on an ad-hoc basis until an EU regulatory framework for benchmarks has entered into force.

View ESMA – EBA: Euribor makes significant progress with reforms, 20 February 2014