Financial industry continues slow transition away from key lending benchmark. : The looming demise of LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) has been broadcast far and wide over the past year. As the countdown clock winds down to the Dec. 31, 2021 termination date, regulators and policymakers are working to make sure that the transition to a new benchmark is as seamless as possible. Last week, Fannie Mae issued the real estate market’s first securities backed by what is expected to be the new alternative to LIBOR in the U.S.—the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR).