United States: Turmoil In Credit Markets Causes Inversion Of Key Bank Lending Rates

Borrowers Need to Monitor Whether to Elect Prime Rate rather than LIBOR under Credit Facilities

U.S. Companies that borrow under bank credit facilities that provide for the borrower to elect payment of interest at either a LIBOR-based rate (sometimes called a "Eurodollar" loan) or a Prime Rate-based rate (sometimes called a "Base Rate" loan) need to be aware of a significant development resulting from the recent turmoil in the world's credit markets.

Under normal market conditions, the Prime Rate generally exceeds LIBOR rates. Given this, borrowers generally elect to pay interest at a LIBOR-based rate on loans that will be outstanding for more than a short time.

However, in recent days, certain LIBOR rates have at times exceeded the Prime Rate quoted by most major U.S. banks. Because of this, chief financial officers and treasurers need to carefully monitor their LIBOR/Eurodollar interest periods and consider whether to elect the Prime Rate/Base Rate when those interest periods next roll over. Furthermore, borrowers may wish to consider whether to "break funding" on some or all of their existing LIBOR/Eurodollar contracts and convert their outstanding loans to Prime Rate/Base Rate loans – depending on how LIBOR rates have moved since the beginning of the current interest period for an outstanding LIBOR/Eurodollar loan, borrowers may have to pay minimal or no "breakage costs" for doing so. The ability to "break funds" on an outstanding LIBOR/Eurodollar loan and convert it to a Prime Rate-based loan will depend on, among other factors, the language of the relevant loan agreement and whether the relevant loan is a revolver loan or a term loan, and borrowers should discuss this option with their lender before doing so.

It's impossible to predict how long this anomalous situation will last, but the savings to alert companies could be substantial. When and if this rate inversion is reversed and more normal conditions prevail, borrowers under typical loan agreements should again be able to elect LIBOR on short notice and resume their normal interest rate strategies.

We have helped a number of clients with these issues in recent days.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.