Welcome to the autumn 2020 edition of our newsletter for corporate treasurers, chief financial officers and corporate general counsel in which we highlight key topical issues in the financial markets and explore their implications from a corporate perspective.

In this edition, we continue our series on global interest rate reform, focussing on the ISDA Fallbacks Protocol. The transition away from LIBOR, and the need to address it in documentation, is becoming an ever more pressing issue, as we move closer to the end of 2021. Following the UK’s departure from the EU in January, we take a look over the Brexit cliff edge, when the transition period ends on 31 December. Covid-19 has affected commerce in a multitude of ways. Here, we focus on the UK Government’s loan support scheme for large businesses, and give consideration to the options potentially available to those corporates who are looking to refinance funding obtained under the Covid Corporate Financing Facility. As market participants continue to focus on ESG, we highlight some recent developments in the green and sustainable loan and bond markets – particularly following the publication of recent guidance in respect of these products. Lastly, many individuals have been working mainly or entirely from home over the last few months. We therefore set out some practical guidance for the execution of documents when working remotely.

We hope you find this edition helpful in considering the implications of these key developments in practice. Your usual contacts at Linklaters would be happy to discuss any questions you may have which arise out of this newsletter.