New York Fed to Publish SOFR
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York published a brief entitled, "Statement Regarding the Initial Publication of Treasury Repo Reference Rates." It tells us, "In November 2016, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in cooperation with the Treasury Department's Office of Financial Research (OFR), announced that it was considering publishing three reference rates based on overnight repurchase agreement (repo) transactions collateralized by Treasury securities. In December 2017, following a public comment period, the Federal Reserve Board announced final plans for the production of three rates: the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), the Broad General Collateral Rate (BGCR) and the Tri-Party General Collateral Rate (TGCR). The SOFR was identified by the Alternative Reference Rates Committee in June 2017 as its recommended alternative to U.S. dollar LIBOR for use in certain new U.S. dollar derivatives and other financial contracts." They explain, "The New York Fed plans to begin publication of the Treasury repo reference rates on April 3, 2018, reflecting the SOFR, the BGCR, and the TGCR from April 2, 2018.... In the production of the Treasury repo reference rates, the New York Fed has endeavored to adopt policies and procedures consistent with best practices for financial benchmarks, including the IOSCO Principles for Financial Benchmarks."
