Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. will be required starting next year to add billions of dollars of assets and liabilities to their balance sheets under rules approved by the Financial Accounting Standards Board.
The rules, which are to take effect for annual reporting periods after Nov. 15, were approved by FASB's five-member board Monday during a meeting in the panel's headquarters in Norwalk, Conn. The board, which writes U.S. accounting rules, is overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Lenders recorded profits before the U.S. subprime mortgage market collapsed in 2007 by selling pooled loans to off-balance-sheet trusts, which repackaged the pools into mortgage-backed securities. Banks then sold those securities to other off-balance-sheet vehicles they sponsored, concealing from investors that the securities were backed by deteriorating mortgages.
"The desire to provide additional transparency to investors was the key driver behind today's decisions," FASB spokesman Neal McGarity said in an e-mail.
The 19 lenders subjected to stress tests this spring would have to bring about $900 billion of assets onto their balance sheets because of the FASB changes, according to a Federal Reserve report released April 24. The Fed based its calculation on data from the banking companies.
