Upon return of securities by the
Borrower or Reverse Repo counterparty, SSB will return the cash collateral to the Borrower or proceeds from the Reverse Repo, as applicable, which will eliminate the credit against the line of credit and will cause
the drawdowns under the line of credit to increase by the amounts returned. Income earned on the loaned securities is retained by SSB, and any interest due on the reverse repurchase agreements is paid by SSB.
SSB has indemnified the fund for
certain losses that may arise if the Borrower or a Reverse Repo Counterparty fails to return securities when due. With respect to securities lending transactions, upon a default of the securities borrower, SSB uses
the collateral received from the Borrower to purchase replacement securities of the same issue, type, class and series. If the value of the collateral is less than the purchase cost of replacement securities, SSB is
responsible for satisfying the shortfall but only to the extent that the shortfall is not due to any of the fund’s losses on the reinvested cash collateral. Although the risk of the loss of the securities is
mitigated by receiving collateral from the Borrower or proceeds from the Reverse Repo counterparty and through SSB indemnification, the fund could experience a delay in recovering securities or could experience a
lower than expected return if the Borrower or Reverse Repo counterparty fails to return the securities on a timely basis.
Interest charged is at the rate of
one month LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) plus 0.600% and is payable monthly on the aggregate balance of the drawdowns outstanding under the LA. As of June 30, 2021, the fund had an aggregate balance of
$125,000,000 at an interest rate of 0.70%, which is reflected in the Liquidity agreement on the Statement of assets and liabilities. During the six months ended June 30, 2021, the average balance of the LA and the
effective average interest rate were $125,000,000 and 0.72%, respectively.
The fund may terminate the LA with
60 days’ notice. If certain asset coverage and collateral requirements, or other covenants are not met, the LA could be deemed in default and result in termination. Absent a default or facility termination
event, SSB is required to provide the fund with 360 days’ notice prior to terminating the LA.
Due to the anticipated
discontinuation of LIBOR, as discussed in Note 9, the LA may be amended to remove LIBOR as the reference rate for interest and to replace LIBOR with an alternative reference rate for interest mutually agreed upon by
the fund and SSB. However, there remains uncertainty regarding the future utilization of LIBOR and the nature of any replacement rate and the potential effect of a transition away from LIBOR on the fund and/or the LA
cannot yet be fully determined.
Note 9—LIBOR Discontinuation Risk
The LA utilizes LIBOR as the
reference or benchmark rate for interest rate calculations. LIBOR is a measure of the average interest rate at which major global banks can borrow from one another. Following allegations of rate manipulation and
concerns regarding its thin liquidity, in July 2017, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, announced that it will stop encouraging banks to provide the quotations needed to sustain LIBOR. The
ICE Benchmark Administration Limited, the administrator of LIBOR, is expected to cease publishing most LIBOR maturities, including some US LIBOR maturities, on December 31, 2021, and the remaining and most liquid US
LIBOR maturities on June 30, 2023. Before the end of 2021, it is expected that market participants such as the fund and SSB will transition to the use of alternative reference or benchmark rates. However, although
regulators have encouraged the development and adoption of alternative rates, such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR"), the future of LIBOR or any replacement rate remains uncertain.
Although the transition process away
from LIBOR has become increasingly well-defined in advance of the anticipated discontinuation dates, the impact on the LA remains uncertain. It is expected that market participants will amend financial instruments
referencing LIBOR, such as the LA, to include fallback provisions and other measures that contemplate the discontinuation of LIBOR or other similar market disruption events, but neither the effect of the transition
process nor the viability of such measures is known. To facilitate the transition of legacy derivatives contracts referencing LIBOR, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. launched a protocol to
incorporate fallback provisions. However, there are obstacles to converting certain longer term securities and transactions to a new benchmark or benchmarks and the effectiveness of one alternative reference