Interest rates

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank was ready to raise interest rates in March and didn’t rule out moving at every meeting to tackle the highest inflation in a generation.

The decision to drop the London interbank offered rate as a benchmark interest rate means that contracts for hundreds of trillions of dollars in financial assets need to be rewritten. U.S. regulators should allow existing agreements to be amended without the threat of massive litigation.

While money market fee waivers ate into the company’s revenue last quarter, as low interest rates led asset managers to make concessions to customers, executives predict a turnaround in 2022 after the Federal Reserve starts monetary tightening.

The Secured Overnight Financing Rate has benefited — amid the phaseout of Libor — from positive comments by regulators. Is a multirate environment, which some banks would prefer, still possible?

Germany’s finance watchdog fined Deutsche Bank 8.66 million euros ($9.8 million) over its handling of submissions for Euribor, a reference rate at the heart of a scandal that rocked the industry.

Analysts expect loan growth and higher interest rates to drive up equity prices next year, even in the face of the omicron variant and other risks.

Just three months ago, U.S. banks were still using the expiring benchmark rate for the vast majority of their new loans. But regulators said Friday the transition to alternative rates has accelerated ahead of a year-end cutoff.

With prices increasing faster than they have since the 1990s, the Federal Reserve appears poised to tighten monetary policy. Top industry executives are worried about the chances of either a recession or runaway inflation, depending on whether the central bank moves too quickly or too slowly.

Lawmakers approved legislation designed to protect trillions of dollars of assets when the London interbank offered rate expires.

Borrowers expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next year to contain soaring prices and are locking in favorable terms now, bankers say.

Many banks are still making loans tied to the scandal-plagued benchmark despite years of preparation for its demise. The end of 2021 could prove hectic as bankers scramble to implement changes and explain them to commercial borrowers.

Some progressive lawmakers argue the Federal Reserve’s deregulatory moves under Jerome Powell should disqualify him for a second term as chair. But the Biden administration could let him keep his job because of monetary policies that helped low-income workers.

The legislation would establish a quick process for legacy financial contracts to swap in the Secured Overnight Financing Rate after the London interbank offered rate all but expires in 2023.

The London interbank offered rate will phase out in a matter of months, and lawmakers have to step in to prevent a legal fiasco. They need to make Secured Overnight Financing Rate the sole fallback benchmark.

The London interbank offered rate was a flawed benchmark, but it was nonetheless a centerpiece of finance for decades. Congress should ensure it doesn't replace one interest rate monoculture with another as Libor winds down.

How the pandemic is accelerating trends in financial advice and changing the way Americans manage their money.

Federal Reserve officials held interest rates near zero while signaling they expect two increases by the end of 2023, pulling forward the date of liftoff and projecting a faster-than-anticipated pace of tightening as the economy recovers.

Members of the Financial Stability Oversight Council are trying to light a fire under banks to adopt an alternative to the foundational reference rate.

The pace of the U.S. recovery picked up somewhat in the past two months, sparking price pressures as businesses contended with worker scarcity and rising costs, the Federal Reserve said.

Rising inflation could lead to a rate hike, bolstering lenders' profits in 2022. Improved credit quality and an economic rebound are also fueling investment in the sector.