The Bank of England (BOE) has a message for financial businesses exiting the scandal-plagued London interbank offered rate (LIBOR) benchmark: Get moving.

It issued a statement on Thursday giving banks until September to cease issuing cash products linked to sterling-denominated LIBOR, a benchmark which underpins $30 trillion of financial contracts in sterling markets alone. The direction is part of a wider effort to speed up transition in the derivatives market before the benchmark expires at the end of 2021.

"There is a lot to be done," said Simon Woods, a partner at Ernst & Young LLP. "Firms not being ready gives rise to commercial and regulatory risks, and we expect some banks may need to reprioritize their change programs to hit many of the upcoming deadlines."

See also:

• LIBOR's Demise Will Up-end Derivatives
• Richard Sandor's AMERIBOR Roadshow
• "Zombie LIBOR" Threatens Market's Complacent View
• LIBOR's Looming Demise Is a Massive Financial Engineering Task
• Battle of the Benchmarks Continues
• LIBOR Replacement Contenders

In 2017, the BOE started the countdown on retiring LIBOR, used for $300 trillion of contracts globally including bonds and loans. For decades the rate served as a benchmark set daily by banks to determine interest rates on everything from student loans and mortgages to derivatives and credit cards. But ever since European and U.S. banks were found to have manipulated rates to benefit their own portfolios, the benchmark has been seen as tainted.