Tuesday, May 14th 2019.- In order to improve the functioning of the financial system, and according to international best practices, the Asociación de Bancos e Instituciones Financieras de Chile A.G. (ABIF) transfers benchmark administration to the independent company Global Rate Set Systems Limited (GRSS).

For such purposes, an international tender process was carried out by the TAB Oversight Committee, with the support of Oliver Wyman. As a result, the Board of ABIF is transferring its responsibilities in administering the benchmarks to Global Rate Set Systems Limited (GRSS).

“Our objective was to transfer the benchmarks to an independent administrator to take the benchmarks forward to meet the IOSCO Principles” said José Manuel Mena, President of ABIF.

The ABIF has actively contributed to the development of benchmarks in the financial system. In particular, the ABIF has been calculating the TAB UF, TAB Nominal and TADO since the years 1992, 2001 and 2009, respectively. Additionally, ABIF has calculated and published the Índice de Cámara Promedio (ICP) and ICP (real) since 2002 and 2008, respectively.

Clive Bennett from GRSS says that “the introduction of new standards and systems will enhance the standing of the Chilean benchmarks, strengthening their international best practice compliance”.

Global Rate Set Systems is an independent company, established in 2009, specifically to assist banking associations to reform their financial benchmarks by providing calculating agent, governance and licensing services to meet new regulatory standards.  Global Rate Set Systems has been the calculating agent for the critical Euribor benchmark since 2014 and its subsidiary Czech Financial Benchmark Facility in 2018 became a benchmark administrator authorised under benchmark regulation in Europe for an interest rate benchmark (Pribor). The transition to the new administration in charge of GRSS is expected to take up to six months.