Almost a quarter of all banks that were supposed to overhaul how they account for souring loans this year jumped at an unprecedented congressional pass to delay the major change.
Forty-five small banks seized on the provision, part of the $2 trillion coronavirus relief law (Public Law 116-136), that allowed them to blunt the effect the current expected credit loss (CECL) accounting standard on their capital and earnings. The large number of banks that chose the delay surprised analysts who previously thought the provision in the bill was clumsily written and provided little tangible relief.
The nation’s biggest ...