Despite setbacks, most notably from the COVID-19 pandemic, most regulators and investors expect the process to replace LIBOR with SOFR to remain on track. The Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC), consisting of major banks, insurers, and asset managers alongside the New York Fed, have been rallying derivatives investors and users of LIBOR to be ready for the end. Banks are spending millions of dollars and mobilizing everyone from lawyers to trading-floor staff to get ready. Yet, some wonder whether the deadline for the transition away from LIBOR will be pushed back. Investment-bank analysts and salespeople estimate that only a quarter of clients are ready for the benchmark to disappear, despite the fact that all the concerns that led to the decision to retire LIBOR were present again in March’s market stress period, underscoring the need to make the transition in a timely manner. So, despite naysayers and those crying “delay,” all indications are that we are in the “final countdown” of the SOFR transition period and the end of LIBOR on December 30, 2021. With that deadline approaching, we’ve put together a few of the most pressing recommendations from the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA) and ARRC that the industry should be implementing now to be ready.