The Transition to Risk-free Rates (RFRs) Review analyzes the trading volumes of over-the-counter (OTC) and exchange-traded interest rate derivatives (IRD) that reference selected alternative RFRs, including the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), the Sterling Overnight Index Average (SONIA), the Swiss Average Rate Overnight, the Tokyo Overnight Average Rate, the Euro Short-Term Rate and the Australian Overnight Index Average.
Key highlights for the first half of 2021 include:
- The average monthly ISDA-Clarus RFR Adoption Indicator, which tracks how much global trading activity (as measured by DV01) is conducted in cleared OTC and exchange-traded IRD that reference the identified RFRs in six major currencies, increased to 10.2% in the first half of 2021 compared to 6.5% in the first half of 2020.
- Global RFR-linked IRD traded notional accounted for 10.9% of total IRD traded notional compared to 7.4% in the first half of 2020.
- Based on US trading data, traded notional of OTC IRD referencing alternative RFRs decreased by 15.9% to $9.2 trillion in the first half of 2021 compared to $10.9 trillion in the first half of 2020.
- Based on US trading data, IRD traded notional referencing SOFR increased to $1.7 trillion from $488.6 billion in the first half of 2020. The proportion of IRD traded notional linked to SOFR remained small, accounting for only 1.4% of total IRD traded notional.
Click on the attached PDF to read the full report.
Documents (1) for Transition to RFRs Review: First Half of 2021 and the Second Quarter of 2021
Latest
IRD Trading Activity FY 2025 and Q4 2025
This report analyzes interest rate derivatives (IRD) trading activity reported in Europe. The analysis is based on transactions publicly reported by 30 European approved publication arrangements (APAs) and trading venues (TVs). Key highlights for the full year 2025 include: European...
A Financial Markets Revolution
Every financial center has its own unique features, but it was particularly fitting that ISDA’s recent Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held in Boston – not only a global hub for asset management and insurance, but also a city that...
ISDA AGM Studio: Nnamdi Okaeme & John Pucciarelli
Marking the 10‑year anniversary of the ISDA Standard Initial Margin Model (ISDA SIMM), Joel Clark, senior director, communications, at ISDA, speaks with Nnamdi Okaeme, ISDA’s head of SIMM, and John Pucciarelli, head of partnerships and director of industry engagement at...
Response on Legal Frameworks for Carbon Credits
On May 4, ISDA and the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) responded to the European Commission’s (EC) consultation on a legal framework for the inclusion of international carbon credits within the EU’s 2040 climate law framework. In the...
