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The changes to Libor include increasing the contributing banks from 16 to 20, widening membership of the committee that oversees the process, and most importantly to impose tighter scrutiny of rates contributed, where individual contributors must justify any discrepancies.

The questions raised on both sides of the Atlantic have suggested contributing banks have been under-quoting the true cost of funds to avoid being labelled as desperate for cash. If this is the case, then any tightening of criteria by the BBA could lead, in the short-term especially, to a widening of the gap between Libor and the Bank of England Base Rate.

The gap, while historically small has been widening since before the credit crunch, with even the Bank of England's £50bn emergency fund having little impact on confidence.

This lack of confidence has made banks less willing to lend to each other, and it is this that has been one of the major contributors of the funding difficulties experienced by lenders.

The BBA's proposals are an effort to restore confidence in Libor itself, rather than to affect its level, but if the review makes the measure more transparent as well as restoring confidence then without doubt it will be a good thing for both advisers and the market overall.

However I suspect most advisers will be less concerned with the journey and more interested in the destination of lower mortgage rates, if we get there.

Richard Morea is technical manager for Bath-based mortgage adviser London & Country