Interest Rate Index

What Is an Interest Rate Index?

An interest rate index is an index based on the interest rate of a financial instrument or basket of financial instruments. An interest rate index serves as a benchmark to calculate the interest rate that lenders may charge on financial products, such as mortgages.

Understanding the Interest Rate Index

Investors, borrowers, and lenders often use an interest rate index to determine the interest rates of the financial products they buy and sell.

An interest rate index can be based on changes to a single item, such as the yield on U.S. Treasury securities, or a more complex series of rates. For example, an index may be based on the monthly weighted average cost of funds for banks within a state.

Many widely used financial products follow an interest rate index. An adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), for example, ties its interest rate to an underlying index. Well-known indices include the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and the Treasury Constant Maturities index.

$360 million

The amount that U.S. authorities fined Barclays for the tampering and false reporting of the EURIBOR and LIBOR from 2005 to 2009.

Examples of Interest Rate Indices

The LIBOR Interest Rate Index

LIBOR (also known as ICE LIBOR) is the world’s most widely-used benchmark for short-term interest rates. LIBOR serves as the primary indicator for the average rate at which contributing banks may obtain short-term loans in the London interbank market.

Notably, between 11 and 18 contributor banks currently participate for five major currencies (USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, and CHF). LIBOR sets rates for seven different maturities, posting a total of 35 rates every business day.

ICE LIBOR was previously known as BBA LIBOR until February 1, 2014, the date on which the ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) took over the Administration of LIBOR. It became clear that more than a dozen major banks were misusing their influence over the LIBOR.

In June 2012, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) fined Barclays Bank £59.5 million for LIBOR-related failings (specifically, being out of accordance with the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000). Barclays agreed to an early settlement, and the fine of £85 million worked out to be £59.5 million after a 30 percent discount.

The Intercontinental Exchange, the authority responsible for LIBOR, will stop publishing one-week and two-month USD LIBOR after Dec. 31, 2021. All other LIBOR will be discontinued after June 30, 2023.

The Treasury Constant Maturities Index

Many lenders use constant maturity yields to determine mortgage rates. The One-Year Constant Maturity Treasury Index is widely used as a reference point for adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs). Many corporations and institutions also use constant maturity yields as a reference for pricing issuances of debt securities.