Hogan Lovells – It is rare for a banking regulator to warn the industry of a “DEFCON 1 litigation event,” a “situation that invites litigation” that “would be on a massive scale.” But that’s precisely what Michael Held, executive vice president and general counsel of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, recently did. Held sounded a litigation tsunami warning over the “trillions of dollars of existing contracts” that incorporate the Libor rate and extend beyond Libor’s anticipated permanent cessation at the end of 2021, but lack “effective fallbacks” to replace Libor. This article addresses: (1) which products are subject to the greatest post-Libor litigation risk and (2) what kinds of claims we can expect.