ICE Benchmark Administration®
Administering Global Benchmarks and Data Services
Access to accurate, reliable information is essential to the integrity and everyday functioning of global markets and the economies which they support. Benchmarks and other data form a vital part of this ecosystem, helping market participants to assess the value of assets and make informed business decisions with confidence.
As one of the world’s most experienced administrators of regulated benchmarks, ICE Benchmark Administration® (IBA) is leading the way in benchmark and other data administration services, offering the highest standards of input data collection, calculation, publication and surveillance. By establishing comprehensive and robust governance and oversight functions, and constantly evolving and developing our benchmarks and data services, IBA is enhancing benchmark and data integrity in order to give market participants confidence in the information they depend upon.
Administering Global Benchmarks and Data Services
LIBOR®
- LIBOR® is in the process of being wound down.
- ICE Benchmark Administration® Limited (“IBA”) no longer publishes any LIBOR settings using panel bank contributions under the “panel” bank LIBOR methodology.
- IBA is being compelled by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) under the UK Benchmarks Regulation (“BMR") to publish the 1-, 3-and 6-Months USD LIBOR settings using an unrepresentative “synthetic” methodology. The FCA intends that these "synthetic" settings will cease after publication on 30 September 2024.
- All other LIBOR settings have ceased to be published.
- The use of LIBOR may be restricted or prohibited by law and by the requirements of regulatory authorities.
- Please ensure you take legal and financial advice in all relevant jurisdictions to ensure you understand the impact of the cessation or unrepresentativeness of any LIBOR settings on you and your counterparties, and to ensure you understand the implications of the exercise of the FCA’s powers under the BMR
- Please refer to the FCA’s LIBOR transition website and our LIBOR webpage for further information regarding LIBOR transition and cessation.
ICE Swap Rate®
- ICE Swap Rate® (formerly known as ISDAFIX) is recognised as the principal global benchmark for swap rates for interest rate swaps. The rate is used as the exercise value for cash-settled swaptions, for close-out payments on early terminations of interest rate swaps, for some floating rate bonds and for valuing portfolios of interest rate swaps.
- ICE Swap Rate represents the mid-price for interest rate swaps (the fixed leg) in three major currencies (USD, GBP and EUR) in various tenors ranging from 1 year to 30 years at particular specified times of the day. Certain versions of the ICE Swap Rate are also "spread-adjusted," as noted below.
- Currently, ICE Benchmark Administration® Limited (IBA) publishes ICE Swap Rate benchmarks based on swaps linked to EURIBOR, GBP SONIA and USD SOFR, all using the published ‘Waterfall’ Methodology.
- IBA also publishes USD SOFR Spread-Adjusted ICE Swap Rate settings determined in line with the methodology suggested by the Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC), and GBP SONIA Spread-Adjusted ICE Swap Rate settings determined in line with the methodology proposed by the Non-Linear Task Force (NLTF) of the Working Group on Sterling Risk-Free Reference Rates.
- Please refer to our ICE Swap Rate webpage for further information on ICE Swap Rate.
- The publication of all GBP LIBOR and USD LIBOR ICE Swap Rate settings has ceased. Please refer to the FCA’s LIBOR transition website and our LIBOR webpage for further information regarding LIBOR transition and cessation.
LBMA Gold & Silver Prices
- Moved the LBMA Gold Price away from the historical telephone-based process to an electronic, physically-settled auction using ICE's trading platform, recognized around the world for providing access and increasing market transparency
- Provided direct participants and clients the ability to manage orders in the auction directly themselves for the first time
- Increased participation in the gold auction, and increased gold and silver auction volumes, as technology and governance improvements have enhanced accessibility and confidence in the process
ISDA SIMM Crowdsourcing Facility
- Launched a crowdsourcing facility in conjunction with ISDA for firms trading uncleared derivatives that provides consensus risk buckets as a key input to the ISDA SIMM methodology
- Allowing market participants to reduce margin call disputes by providing firms which use the ISDA SIMM methodology with an aligned set of risk buckets
- ICE CoT is designed to support the cocoa and coffee industries in meeting the requirements of the European Union’s regulation relating to deforestation and forest degradation (EUDR), which came into force on June 29, 2023.
- The EUDR will require Traders and Operators to undertake due diligence, and collect relevant information to show that products being placed on the EU market are deforestation-free, produced in accordance with relevant legislation of the country of production, and covered by a Due Diligence Statement (DDS).
- ICE CoT will facilitate compliance with the EUDR by automating the process of submitting, recording and validating the necessary farm-origin and physical-flow traceability data provided by coffee and cocoa Traders and Operators.
- ICE CoT aims to support existing business practices and help ensure that coffee and cocoa remains freely tradable within the EU.
ICE Term Reference Rates
- Developed and launched forward-looking ICE Term SONIA Reference Rates (TSRR) and forward-looking ICE Term SOFR Reference Rates (ICE Term SOFR) for 1, 3, 6 and 12-month tenors
- Designed to measure, on a daily basis, expected (i.e. forward-looking) SONIA and SOFR rates over 1, 3, 6 and 12-month periods
- Derived using a waterfall calculation methodology, using eligible prices and volumes for specified SONIA and SOFR-linked interest rate derivative products
ICE RFR Indexes
- Launched a set of Risk Free Rate Indexes, for SOFR, SONIA, €STR and TONA, providing daily values that represent accrued compound interest, relative to the first day value of 100
- Developed to help address the key operational considerations of lenders and borrowers of RFR-based loans, the index values are designed to provide a simple method for calculating compound interest between any two index dates, allowing parties to agree transparently on interest accruals
ICE Carbon Reference Entity Data Service (ICE CRED)
- For the carbon credit markets to continue to grow in a scalable and sustainable way, standardised, reliable and robust reference data that can be widely used and adopted by market participants is required.
- ICE CRED is designed to support carbon credit market participants throughout the trading lifecycle, providing the opportunity to reduce operational risk and cost and promote greater scalability in their carbon credit trading operations.
- IBA imports data in respect of carbon credits from registries daily, and uses organisational data management to normalise, standardise and aggregate the data.
- ICE CRED is available from multiple access points in a digital standardised format via ICE’s SFTP server, ICE Chat and ICE’s web Report Center.
ICE U.S. Dollar Inflation Expectations Index Family
After years of remaining low and stable, inflation has become a key consideration for market participants and policy makers. Over the past year the Consumer Price Index in the United States rose by more than 7.00% and the future path of inflation remains highly uncertain. The key questions on stakeholders’ minds now are:
- If/when inflation will moderate in the near term; and
- Have longer term inflation expectations moved structurally higher post the pandemic?
The answers to these questions will materially impact how monetary policy unfolds in the coming quarters and will certainly impact asset prices in the financial markets.
To help gauge future inflation expectations and inform policy and risk management decision making, ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) has launched the ICE U.S. dollar Inflation Expectations Index Family.
How IBA Operates
IBA combines robust regulatory and governance frameworks with advanced technology to bring credibility and trust to globally important benchmarks. IBA, which is independently capitalized, is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK. IBA is required to comply with the FCA's rules for benchmark administrators.
Statutory Accounts
Annual Report and Financial Statements For the Year Ended 31 December 2023