The administrator of the pivotal dollar London interbank offered rate (LIBOR) benchmarks is looking to push back, by 18 months, the timeline for abandoning some of the discredited interest-rate settings.

The ICE Benchmark Administration Ltd. (IBA) said it is consulting on plans to extend the retirement date for 3-, 6- and 12-month LIBOR on dollars until late June 2023, although regulators are still pushing for banks to move away from the benchmarks as soon as they can. The announcement, which also paves the way for an extension on the overnight benchmark, follows fierce speculation that such a move might be on its way and eurodollar futures trading volumes jumped in its wake.

The move reflects flexibility by those overseeing dollar LIBOR, said Anne Beaumont, partner at Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman. "They really want everyone to stop using LIBOR, but they can't make them," she said. "They don't want to be so doctrinaire about it that they blow up the financial system. It reveals them to be pragmatists."