LIBOR to SOFR: How Will the Transition Impact Supply Chain Finance?

In the last few months, I’ve had several conversations with customers and bank executives about LIBOR. These discussions have largely focused on the following questions: Is SOFR still replacing LIBOR? If so, how will the transition impact supply chain finance funding costs?

Before we answer those questions, we need to revisit what’s happening with LIBOR. In short, LIBOR (London Inter-bank Offered Rate) is an interest rate average calculated daily from estimates submitted by the leading banks in London. It effectively sets the rate at which banks can lend to one another and serves as the benchmark rate for loans across the world worth trillions of dollars.

LIBOR drew scrutiny during the global financial crisis, when financial institutions manipulated it to boost returns and hide financial weakness. This precipitated global calls for a replacement. Thus, a timeline was set for LIBOR to phase out sometime early 2022. The leading contender to replace LIBOR is the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), which is published by the New York Federal Reserve.

Today, the financial industry is staring down a rapidly approaching deadline that is ill-timed given current economic volatility. With this in mind, many finance executives are curious about what will (or will not) happen to LIBOR in the coming months, and how it will affect their business.

Is LIBOR still going away?

Currently, there are no indicators that the Federal Reserve has plans to push the early 2022 timeframe. Recent comments from Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams suggest SOFR has fared well despite stresses seen in the financial system during the coronavirus pandemic.

Regardless, there is a groundswell among financial experts to reconsider both timing and approach. Much of the debate about LIBOR has fizzled out. It’s also difficult to predict when the global economy will recover and what recovery will look like. If the U.S. economy is in a recession at the end of 2020, it’s reasonable to expect the Federal Reserve will focus its efforts on the economy and the timing for replacement will be pushed further into the future.

How will a move from LIBOR to SOFR impact supply chain finance funding costs?

We believe the implementation of SOFR will actually lower base rates – not significantly, but lower nonetheless. LIBOR incorporates a built-in credit risk analysis component because it represents the average cost of borrowing by a bank. In contrast, SOFR does not include a credit risk analysis component and represents a “risk-free” rate (because it’s based on Treasury rates), which will ultimately work in the favor of a lower base rate.

How will this change filter through PrimeRevenue’s supply chain finance platform?

In all likelihood, a move to SOFR will not impact PrimeRevenue customers. However, there are two variables to consider. First, banks must choose to use SOFR as their base rate calculation model as there is no mandate on which rate they are required to use. Fortunately, there is already growing consensus around SOFR with several large banks already testing it out on their own systems to ensure compatibility.

Second, banks have a choice between two different SOFR models – simple interest SOFR or compound interest SOFR. Simple interest SOFR most closely resembles the LIBOR calculation model, and most systems that use LIBOR will be able to seamlessly transition to SOFR (including PrimeRevenue’s platform). The compound interest SOFR model will require banks to make widespread technology modifications. Our conversations with financial institutions thus far suggest most banks don’t want to take on the headache and cost of compound interest SOFR and will opt for the simple interest model instead.

We’ll continue to keep a close eye on what’s happening with LIBOR. Nevertheless, PrimeRevenue will support our clients through whatever the future holds. Stay tuned for updates.

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Stephanie Wargo

VP, Global Head of Marketing

Stephanie joined PrimeRevenue in 2015 and oversees the company’s global marketing team and strategy. With a data-driven approach, Stephanie focuses on demand generation and thought leadership to drive brand awareness, strengthen client/partner relationships, and generate new sales opportunities. Stephanie has guided PrimeRevenue through new technology releases and an evolving FinTech landscape. In addition to leading PrimeRevenue’s internal and external communications, she implemented innovative demand generation and marketing strategies to enhance the company’s overall sales pipeline.

Stephanie has extensive experience in marketing and customer success. She previously served as Vice President of Marketing and Communications at BitPay and Vice President of Client Relations and Marketing at FirstView Financial. Stephanie earned a B.A. degree in Political Science from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia.

Brian Medley

VP, Global Head of Sales

Brian joined PrimeRevenue in early 2012, after more than 20 years of sales leadership, executive-level consultant and business growth experience. As VP, Global Head of Sales, Brian leads a growing team of fintech sales professionals with a focus on developing strong customer relationships, improving sales predictability and helping PrimeRevenue enter the lucrative mid-market.

Prior to PrimeRevenue, Brian honed his enterprise software sales leadership skills at Clarus Corporation. He also served as an operations and IT management consultant for Kurt Salmon Associates. In addition to his sales and consulting background, Brian has deep experience in the financial industry having founded a successful residential mortgage broker and lending business. He is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology having earned a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Economics and M.B.A. in Global Business.

Jason Green

SVP, Global Customer Success

Jason joined PrimeRevenue in 2021 following more than two decades in the fintech/financial services industry. He brings a strong background is sales leadership due to his impressive relationship building capability as well as a successful track record in creating structure and process improvements. In his role, Jason uses his keen attention to detail to strengthen the customer experience and enhance the company’s solutions to deliver more value to clients.

Prior to joining the company, Jason held several senior level and executive roles with a focus on building and scaling sales and support organizations at both large and small companies. Jason graduated from Murray State University with a B.S in Marketing.

Matt Ford

SVP, Global Product Innovation

Matt joined PrimeRevenue in early 2015 and is responsible for overseeing all commercial, strategic and operational aspects of PrimeRevenue’s supply chain finance offerings throughout EMEA, based in Prague. He has been instrumental in gaining global alignment and developing supplier enablement processes for the region.

Matt joined PrimeRevenue following a 15-year career at Morgan Stanley, where he worked in fixed income operations covering debt syndication through bonds, EMTNS, corporate loans and other debt securitization. Notably, he set up non-core location operations in Europe (Budapest) and all lending operations in Baltimore from scratch.

Matt, who was born and raised in South East England, earned a B.S. in Sports Science at University of Teesside where he mastered the art of TEAM development and accountability as a youth international rugby player.

Dominic Capolongo

EVP, Global Head of Funding

Dominic joined PrimeRevenue in 2016, and is responsible for leading our bank and capital markets funding strategies and execution. He focuses on building global, scalable and highly efficient funding structures that maximize options for supporting PrimeRevenue’s programs. Dominic began his career as an attorney and was a partner with Kaye Scholer before joining DLJ as a senior banker. Dominic brings tremendous strategic and capital markets experience in all areas of finance having held senior positions at, among others, Credit Suisse and RBC Capital Markets in addition to DLJ. Dominic earned a JD from Fordham University School of Law and a BA from SUNY Binghamton.

Gavin Cicchinelli

Chief Operating Officer

Gavin joined PrimeRevenue as Chief Operating Officer in 2021. With more than two decades of leadership and executive experience along with a deep understanding of the payments space, Gavin provides a unique focus on improving and strengthening operational strategies and implementing GTM growth execution. He is responsible for leading transformation across corporate and operational strategies as well as building a repeatable and scalable commercial growth strategy that aligns with PrimeRevenue’s core business while delivering key adjacent growth opportunities.

Prior to joining PrimeRevenue, Gavin served as President and Chief Revenue Officer of Integrated Solutions at TSYS, a global payment processing services company acquired by Global Payments (NYSE:GPN). There, he also served as Head of Product and divisional COO. Throughout his career, Gavin has held multiple leadership positions including VP of Sales, SVP of Business Development, and President of Financial Institutions. Gavin graduated from the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley.

David Quillian

Chief Legal Officer

David joined PrimeRevenue as General Counsel in 2007. He and his team have been instrumental in successfully creating the unique legal structures that support PrimeRevenue’s multi-funder model and global funding capabilities. David is also the lead named inventor on PrimeRevenue’s two patents for Electronic Time Drafts, which allow PrimeRevenue to manage supply chain finance programs using electronic negotiable instruments as opposed to accounts receivable. Prior to PrimeRevenue, David was General Counsel at Harbor Payments, which was acquired by American Express (AXP) in 2006, and Magnet Communications, which was acquired by Digital Insight (DGIN) in 2003. He holds degrees in Economics and History from Duke University, and Juris Doctor and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Georgia.

Nathan Feather

CEO

Nathan has successfully ushered PrimeRevenue from our very early days as a visionary startup, through the financial crisis to today’s position as a thriving mid-sized leader in the cloud-enabled supply chain finance marketplace since joining PrimeRevenue in January 2006. He was instrumental in recapitalizing the company with an $80M investment led by BBH Capital Partners in 2015. Prior to PrimeRevenue, he held various financial management roles with Ariba, Freemarkets and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Nathan holds a BS in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University.

PJ Bain

CEO

PJ has an impressive and accomplished track record as an enterprise software entrepreneur and executive. PJ has built a solid record of success with PrimeRevenue since being appointed Chief Executive Officer in July of 2009. The company has received numerous awards for growth, customer service, innovation, along with being recognized as a top employer.

PJ is a life-long software and technology entrepreneur having been involved in numerous firms in the roles of founder, executive, advisor and investor. Immediately prior to PrimeRevenue, PJ was the VP and General Manager of Exact Holding N.V. (NYSE/AMS: EXACT), a leading global provider of business software solutions. He was previously Founder and CEO of Inspired Solutions, an Atlanta-based, B2B software and services firm that grew to be the largest reseller of Exact Software in North America, later acquired by Exact. PJ holds a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.