CDOR

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Background
For an in-depth discussion of the prior submission and calculation processes, the events giving rise to the heightened regulatory interest in the Canadian Dollar Offered Rate (“CDOR”), and the rationale for reform to the setting of the benchmark rate, please refer to our earlier bulletin here.
By way of a brief background, CDOR is a money market reference rate. It was calculated using quotes voluntarily provided in a daily survey of market makers in bankers’ acceptances (“BA”). However the rate itself is also used in various floating rate financing arrangements, notes and derivatives. The reporting participants, namely Canada’s largest banks, used varying methods to prepare their bids but the process could be loosely described as adjusting the prior day’s CDOR rate and submission in light of changes in certain factors. The process was administered by Thomson Reuters; it conducted the survey daily at 10:00 am, averaged the submissions after excluding the high and low bid prices, and published the results on Reuters terminals by 10:15 am. CDOR rates were also reported on Bloomberg.
There has been a flurry of activity surrounding reference rates. In 2012, British Chancellor of the Exchequer established the Wheatley Review of LIBOR, which published a number of recommendations to address concerns surrounding the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate. In 2013, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (“IIROC”) followed suit and issued a similar report on CDOR, including its own recommendations to strengthen the safeguards around the integrity of the Canadian reference rate. And most recently in July 2013, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (“IOSCO”) released its final report identifying global ...

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...tivities and processes." Similarly, the submitters' code of conduct being prepared by the banks on the CDOR panel in consultation with IIROC and the Bank of Canada has yet to be published, but it is known that the code "will specify minimum standards for submission methodology, internal oversight and records retention" relating to CDOR submissions.

We will continue to monitor the ongoing initiatives by Canadian regulators and industry to strengthen the governance of CDOR and will provide market participants with information about any new developments as they arise.

by R.D. Jeffrey Rogers, Shahen Mirakian and Anna Tombs, Student-at-Law

a cautionary note

The foregoing provides only an overview and does not constitute legal advice. Readers are cautioned against making any decisions based on this material alone. Rather, specific legal advice should be obtained.

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