Overnight Indexed Swap - Risk Barometer

Risk Barometer

Three-month LIBOR is generally a floating rate of financing, which fluctuates depending on how risky a lending bank feels about a borrowing bank. The OIS is a swap derived from the overnight rate, which is generally fixed by the local central bank. The OIS allows LIBOR-based banks to borrow at a fixed rate of interest over the same period. In the United States, the spread is based on the LIBOR Eurodollar rate and the Federal Reserve's Fed Funds rate.

LIBOR is risky in the sense that the lending bank loans cash to the borrowing bank, and the OIS is stable in the sense that both counterparties only swap the floating rate of interest for the fixed rate of interest. The spread between the two is, therefore, a measure of how likely borrowing banks will default. This reflects counterparty credit risk premiums in contrast to liquidity risk premiums. However, given the mismatch in the tenor of the funding, it also reflects worries about liquidity risk as well.