In its response to the European Commission’s consultation on the regulation of indices, the Eurosystem has called for the regulation of systemically important reference rates. Now, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank welcomed the European Commission’s intention to introduce further legislation to regulate such important reference rates.

The Eurosystem welcomed though a ECB's statement the European Commission’s intention to include in a legislative proposal the power to compel mandatory submissions for systemically important reference rates, in order to prevent disruptions to their production process. The Eurosystem considers it crucial to ensure that such reference rates always serve their purpose of adequately reflecting developments in the euro area.

In July 2012, the Commission proposed criminal sanctions for the manipulation of benchmarks, including LIBOR and EURIBOR. The Eurosystem notes the recent decisions of some banks to withdraw from the Euribor panel. Reference rates such as Euribor are of particular importance to the implementation of monetary policy in the euro area. The Governing Council of the European Central Bank welcomed the Commission's intention to regulate systemically important reference rates in its response to a Commission's consultation.

The Eurosystem has also called for the regulation of systemically important reference rates, with a view to enhancing the governance of all key processes surrounding the rate-setting calculation and increasing market’s confidence in the rates. It strongly encourages banks to remain in, or join, the Euribor panel to prevent potential disruptions to the functioning of the financial markets while the regulatory framework is being refined.