##vable, arms - length transactions rather than estimates. to meet this expectation, an fsb steering group has coordinated working groups for each of the major ibor benchmarks. the mandates of these groups are to identify alternative rates and to begin transitioning to them. in 2014 the federal reserve convened the alternative reference rates committee ( arrc ) to plan the transition away from u. s. dollar libor. 8 the arrc conducted two public roundtables, published a written consultation, and created an advisory group of end users across market sectors. the arrc ’ s criteria for u. s. dollar libor ’ s replacement included methodological quality, accountability, governance, and ease of implementation. in the end, the arrc recommended a new rate that the new york fed had proposed in cooperation with the treasury department ’ s office of financial research. 9 the new rate is called the secured overnight financing rate ( sofr ). the new york fed has published sofr every day since early april of last year. 10 sofr measures the cost of overnight borrowings through repo transactions collateralized with u. s. treasury securities, which is the deepest and most liquid money market in the u. s. it is based on actual transactions and takes in more transactions than any other treasury repo rate available, recently around a trillion dollars each day. sofr is relevant to the cost of borrowing for a wide array of market participants, was constructed to meet the best practices for benchmarks set out by iosco, and is built to accommodate future market evolution. i want to pause here to acknowledge that, as an overnight rate, sofr has been the subject of criticism for sometimes being volatile from day to day, especially near quarter - and year - end. i think such criticism is misplaced. most users of sofr don ’ t use a single day ’ s rate to determine their payments ; they use average rates, which are not much affected by daily volatility. parallel work has been going on in other jurisdictions whose currencies are used in major benchmarks. working groups for sterling, euro, swiss franc and yen ibors11 have all endorsed overnight rates as their preferred alternatives to those rates. 12 three of the alternative rates are ( or will be ) administered directly by central banks, reflecting the recognition that crucial interest rate benchmarks are a public good, and their integrity and sustainability are key to financial stability. i ’ ll note that, at the outset of these reform

leaders is to find innovative ways to ensure that all mothers across the city have the care they need to fully participate in the economy and that their children are positioned for a healthy start. today you ’ ll hear from an exceptional lineup of panelists : leaders in the medical, academic, and policy worlds. we ’ ll close with a panel of my colleagues, fellow reserve bank presidents, who will share their reflections on what we ’ ve learned and discussed today. so, with that, i ’ ll hand it over to marielle segarra of marketplace who will moderate the next part of the program. thank you all again for joining today ’ s event. 1 centers for disease control and prevention, introduction to covid - 19 racial and ethnic health disparities, updated december 10, 2020. 2 hye jin rho, hayley brown, and shawn fremstad, a basic demographic profile of workers in frontline industries, center for economic and policy research, april 2020, and tiana n rogers, charles r rogers, elizabeth vansant - webb, lily y gu, bin yan, fares qeadan, racial disparities in covid - 19 mortality among essential workers in the united states, world medical & health policy, august 5, 2020. 3 ruchi avtar, rajashri chakrabarti, and maxim pinkovskiy, understanding the racial and income gap in covid - 19 : essential workers, liberty street economics, january 12, 2021. 4 ruchi avtar, rajashri chakrabarti, and maxim pinkovskiy, unequal burdens : racial differences in icu stress during the third wave of covid - 19, liberty street economics, august 9, 2021. 5 new york fed on medium, new initiative focuses on the social determinants of health, april 7, 2021. 6 new york fed on medium, exploring the economic benefits of broader support for mental health, june 2, 2021. 7 new york fed, the fourth trimester and beyond : the case for broad investments in maternal and child health. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches