Schellenberg Wittmer advises SBA for the update of its definitions

Schellenberg Wittmer, led by partner Olivier Favre (pictured), provided legal support to the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) for updating its definitions for interest rate products used in over-the-counter derivative transactions documented under the Swiss Master Agreement for OVER-THE-COUNTER (OTC) derivative instruments published by the SBA. This update, titled “Supplemental Interest Rates, Risk-Free Rates (RFR), and EONIA Definitions (2023),” along with a list of Floating Rate Options, is now available on the Swiss Banking website, along with frequently asked questions (FAQs).

The revised definitions, bringing the 2020 version up to date, address the use of overnight reference rates such as SARON for CHF and introduce measures like an administrator/benchmark event and fallbacks in case of a temporary non-publication of reference rates.