WASHINGTON, DC-Libor, the world’s mostubiquitous lending rate--the commercial world, that is--is poisedfor change. On Friday the UK Financial ServicesAuthority delivered a 10-point plan to fix the benchmark rate—a move shortof scraping it and starting over, which was deemed all butimpossible given how entrenched it is.

New rate-setting guidelines will be issued in March by theInternational Organization of SecuritiesCommission—guidelines that will be the result ofcollaboration between the FSA and the US Commodity FuturesTrading Commission. The proposed reforms understandablyare wide-sweeping, ranging from the theoretical (“marketparticipants should be encouraged to consider and examine theirpresent use of LIBOR as a reference rate,” the FSA report said) tothe practical (“publication of individual submission is delayed byat least three months on a rolling basis, with the informationremaining available to the oversight committee, the new rateadministrator, and the FSA.”)

While the proposal is a lot to digest and much behind-the-sceneswrangling will take place before its final shape is revealed, thusfar the commercial real estate industry has reacted withequanimity. Why? For the simple reason that despite reports ofLibor’s manipulation, there has been no clear cut evidence thatdeals in this industry were hurt.