On June 30, British bank NatWest sent out an arcane-sounding press release - bus operator National Express had become the first company to take out a loan based on Sonia, a replacement for scandal-hit interest rate benchmark Libor. It was billed as the first switch of thousands that British firms would make by end-2021, when the benchmark is set to be decommissioned. Four months on, NatWest's trailblazing Sonia switch has been followed by only one other loan, when the bank struck a deal with utility South West Water on Oct. 2.