The long and gruelling exercise to replace the Libor benchmark has reached an important phase for buy-side firms.

Last month, the influential swaps industry body, Isda, issued its fallback protocol. This legal patch for derivatives allows contracts to flip automatically to alternative reference rates on Libor’s death.

Asset managers, investment firms and hedge funds around the world must now decide whether or not to sign the protocol. It’s a decision that will have a bearing on the financial