On 13 May 2021, the FCA and the Bank of England (BoE) issued a statement supporting and encouraging market users and liquidity providers in the sterling exchange traded derivatives market to switch the default traded instrument to SONIA instead of LIBOR from 17 June 2021. This is to facilitate a further shift in market liquidity toward SONIA, bringing benefits for a wide range of users as they move away from LIBOR.

An FCA survey of market participants identified strong support for a change in the standard trading conventions, which would see SONIA rather than LIBOR become the default traded instrument from 17 June 2021.

The FCA and the BoE support and encourage all participants in the sterling exchange traded derivatives market to take the steps necessary to prepare for and implement these changes to standard trading conventions on 17 June 2021 and thereby assist transition to SONIA. In the period leading up to 17 June 2021, the FCA and the BoE will engage with market participants to determine whether market conditions allow the switch to proceed smoothly.