Translation of Announcement
Announcement of ACI Polska’s Management Board dated 30 April 2013
We hereby present new rules for WIBID and WIBOR Reference Rates which are based on the arrangements made by an interbank market team operating in the Office of the Financial Supervision Authority and include EBA/ESMA’s recommendations on reference rates (see the schedule at the end of the text). The rules were formulated by a work group at ACI Polska in cooperation with two law firms and subsequently approved by the Financial Supervision Authority and banks quoting WIBID and WIBOR reference rates. They were also positively evaluated by the National Bank of Poland.
Please note that the level of the reference rate will not be affected by the proposed and accepted changes in the Rules that merely involved some provisions being given a more precise or different wording and the obligations of the Fixing Participants, the Organiser and the Calculation Agent being extended. The basic rules for computing the reference rates are continued. The number of tenors, the obligation to have limits available for other Fixing Participants and the obligation to quote and conclude transactions remain unchanged. The WIBID and WIBOR rates will still be transaction rates, i.e. banks acting as the Fixing Participants will have to quote and conclude transactions at rates which are not worse than those quoted for the Fixing within the first 15 minutes after 11 a.m. The ACI Polska Association and Thomson Reuters will act as the Organiser and the calculation agent, respectively.
The method for qualifying banks for the panel has been changed. The criterion of the Money Market Dealer will not be considered as, following the changes announced by the National Bank of Poland, the participation in the Fixing process has become one of the requirements to be awarded the MMD status.
Banks for the panel will be selected at two levels. Banks holding a share of over 1 % in the assets of the bank sector, banks associating cooperative banks and foreign bank and credit institution branches will be assessed in terms of their activity on the money market and the rate of the core equity capital to the risk-weighted assets( CORE TIER 1). With such eligibility criteria being set, the group of entities participating in the Fixing process will still be limited to the PRIME banks only.
Apart from the above described changes, the main novelty is the appointment of the WIBOR Council. Its primary focus will be to ensure the quality and reliability of the WIBID/WIBOR reference rates. In addition to the Organiser’s supervision, the Council will monitor the rate calculation process and ensure compliance with the Rules. The WIBOR Council will comprise 8 persons to be indicated by the following institutions: the Polish Supervision Authority (KNF), the Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW), the Polish Bank Association (ZBP), the Minister of Finance (MF), KDPW_CCP and ACI Polska. The WIBOR Council will publish reports on its meetings which will enhance the transparency of the entire process.
The Rules currently in force provide for the new document to take effect on 1 July 2013.
Translation of Announcement
Announcement of ACI Polska’s Management Board dated 30 April 2013
We hereby present new rules for WIBID and WIBOR Reference Rates which are based on the arrangements made by an interbank market team operating in the Office of the Financial Supervision Authority and include EBA/ESMA’s recommendations on reference rates (see the schedule at the end of the text). The rules were formulated by a work group at ACI Polska in cooperation with two law firms and subsequently approved by the Financial Supervision Authority and banks quoting WIBID and WIBOR reference rates. They were also positively evaluated by the National Bank of Poland.
Please note that the level of the reference rate will not be affected by the proposed and accepted changes in the Rules that merely involved some provisions being given a more precise or different wording and the obligations of the Fixing Participants, the Organiser and the Calculation Agent being extended. The basic rules for computing the reference rates are continued. The number of tenors, the obligation to have limits available for other Fixing Participants and the obligation to quote and conclude transactions remain unchanged. The WIBID and WIBOR rates will still be transaction rates, i.e. banks acting as the Fixing Participants will have to quote and conclude transactions at rates which are not worse than those quoted for the Fixing within the first 15 minutes after 11 a.m. The ACI Polska Association and Thomson Reuters will act as the Organiser and the calculation agent, respectively.
The method for qualifying banks for the panel has been changed. The criterion of the Money Market Dealer will not be considered as, following the changes announced by the National Bank of Poland, the participation in the Fixing process has become one of the requirements to be awarded the MMD status.
Banks for the panel will be selected at two levels. Banks holding a share of over 1 % in the assets of the bank sector, banks associating cooperative banks and foreign bank and credit institution branches will be assessed in terms of their activity on the money market and the rate of the core equity capital to the risk-weighted assets( CORE TIER 1). With such eligibility criteria being set, the group of entities participating in the Fixing process will still be limited to the PRIME banks only.
Apart from the above described changes, the main novelty is the appointment of the WIBOR Council. Its primary focus will be to ensure the quality and reliability of the WIBID/WIBOR reference rates. In addition to the Organiser’s supervision, the Council will monitor the rate calculation process and ensure compliance with the Rules. The WIBOR Council will comprise 8 persons to be indicated by the following institutions: the Polish Supervision Authority (KNF), the Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW), the Polish Bank Association (ZBP), the Minister of Finance (MF), KDPW_CCP and ACI Polska. The WIBOR Council will publish reports on its meetings which will enhance the transparency of the entire process.
The Rules currently in force provide for the new document to take effect on 1 July 2013.
The below Rules for WIBID and WIBOR Reference Rates shall take effect as of 1 July 2013.
Rules_for_Fixing_WIBID_and_WIBOR_Reference_Rates_EN.pdf
the below Rules for Fixing Wibor and Wibid Reference Rates dated 1 February 2004 shall become ineffective as of 30 June 2013.
Rules for fixing WIBOR and WIBID reference rates [PDF]