Strate, South Africa’s main central securities depository (CSD) and financial market infrastructure, has been appointed by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) as the publishing agent for the Johannesburg Interbank Average Rate (JIBAR) post-trade disclosures.
The appointment follows a global trend of regulators reviewing how interbank offered rates (IBORs) are determined amid a move to alternative reference rates.
The effort to enhance the credibility of JIBAR is part of the SARB’s broader plan to strengthen the reference rate’s role while an alternative, near risk-free reference rate is being developed.
“Strate’s purpose is to serve the financial markets and we are pleased to be able to do this by publishing this data on our website and data services platform for use by financial market participants and investors,” says André Nortjé, chief executive officer, Strate.
Strate’s role as a provider of trade settlement and custodial services in the domestic dematerialised money markets means it is well-placed to provide post-trade disclosures for JIBAR.
Strate’s daily report will include publication of settlement data on primary and secondary market activity related to the published Jibar rates with a one-business-day lag.
“Financial market participants and investors will gain access to rich data on volumes and averages in the South African market, such as the volume weighted average rate of all trade concluded the previous day, the rate occurring at the 10th, 25th, 75th and 90th percentiles of volume and the aggregate volume of all trades concluded the previous day,” says Gregory Naicker, head, CSD Services at Strate.