Accounting

During the first full day of the National Credit Union Collections Alliance's annual conference, speakers discussed what regulators are focusing on and shared best practices for debt collections.

With an implementation deadline less than a year away, bankers will be pressed to detail how a new accounting rule for loan losses will affect reserves, earnings and capital.

The regulatory relief bill passed last year eliminated mandatory stress tests for dozens of regional and midsize banks, yet many banks continue running internal tests anyway. Here’s why.

Publicly traded banks will have to book expected losses on loans starting next year; the jump in mortgage refinancings could be a mixed bag for banks.

Congress granted banks significant reg relief last year, but incoming ICBA Chairman Preston Kennedy says a lighter touch is needed with Bank Secrecy Act rules, loan-loss modeling and call reports.

BB&T-SunTrust deal came together with remarkable speed; Citi and Chase take on fintechs at their own game; CECL spells trouble for small banks, consumers; and more from this week’s most-read stories.

J. Mark McWatters, chairman of NCUA, and Rick Metsger, a board member, also said that Congress should give the agency more authority over field of membership for underserved areas.

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.

FASB this week is also expected to discuss credit loss standards while a House subcommittee will discuss student borrowers and loan servicing, and more.

Addressing lawmakers for the second straight day, the Fed chairman defended his agency’s refinements to the post-crisis regime.