Icap Releasing One And Three Month Funding Cost Data

The Financial Times and Reuters are reporting that Icap, the interdealer brokerage, is launching a new survey-based reporting of one and three month unsecured bank funding cost. The poll will be released at 10 AM New York time. The move is yet another attempt to find solutions and/or provide alternatives to Libor - which has come into question recently and has been something we have talked about extensively (last article), including proposed alternatives.

The 10 AM reporting for the Icap value will occur when the eurodollar deposit market is the most active. Only rates, and not contributing banks, will be reported - thereby reducing signaling effects. Currently, more than two dozen institutions are involved in reporting for Icap. The British Bankers Association (BBA) is already meeting to discuss alternatives and ways to return confidence to Libor reporting. Moves like the one recently made my Icap will certainly help speed up the process.