Accounting regulations

The scandal over the collapse of Wirecard AG expanded as German financial regulator BaFin faces a criminal probe into how it oversaw the payment processor and whether some of the agency’s staff illegally traded the stock.

Two bills — one providing relief from a loan accounting standard and another extending forbearance measures — would collectively contain credit losses.

The regulator approved a proposal that mirrors a rule banking regulators implemented in February 2019 to cushion the Current Expected Credit Losses standard's impact on capital levels.

Lawmakers should go further than their recent criticism of the Financial Accounting Standards Board's loan-loss rule and just hand over its duties to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Policymakers should abolish the new accounting standard because it could distract banks at exactly the moment they need to be focused on pulling their communities from the brink of recession.

As many as 20% of institutions haven't started planning for the new standard, according to one study. Many say CUs must start now in order to be ready, even if the rule is postponed.

Readers weigh in on big tech companies walking away from OCC's fintech charter, House committee wanting Facebook to halt Libra, calls to stop Congress from delaying CECL, and more.

Lawmakers recently introduced legislation to delay implementation of a new accounting standard for current expected loan losses. But policymakers should seek to preserve the accounting body’s independence.

The bipartisan House effort to delay the Current Expected Credit Loss standard comes less than a month after Republican senators introduced a similar bill.

The effort to delay CECL comes a week after a House panel mounted a bipartisan attack on the new FASB standard.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants says banks are fighting accounting fatigue — thank CECL for that — and wants the FASB to push back a deadline for privately held firms to put operating leases on their balance sheets.

Banking officials can reasonably disagree on new standards for current expected credit losses, but the accounting body developed the rules over many years and based them on extensive feedback.

The new accounting standard won’t make community institutions safer, though implementation is proving burdensome and could restrict access to credit, argues Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer.

Bigger banks complained that a two-tier system would force them to rethink their models, while smaller banks raised concerns about adding more complexity to an already burdensome process.

Problems with the new accounting standard could be solved by modifying how reserves are calculated so that changes are more in line with industry growth.

The Puerto Rican company added Daniel Frye, a former FDIC adviser, to its board.

Two experts offer insights into some of the shifts taking place surrounding accounting standards, such as CECL and others.

Points about various exam and regulatory credit union issues were raised