SFA Requests CECL Parity Across Financial Institutions

On March 31, the Structured Finance Association signed onto a joint letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Jay Clayton urging the SEC to set and enforce equal implementation time frames on accounting standards and capital treatment across all financial institutions. The recently enacted CARES Act provided insured depository institutions the option to delay using the current expected credit loss (CECL) accounting standard through December 31, 2020 or the declared end of the national emergency. On March 27, banking regulators also issued an interim final rule allowing that certain banks and their holding companies may obtain reporting relief from the CECL standards for an interim period. Parity  for  similarly  situated  financial companies would provide the ability to better devote their full attention to meeting consumer and business needs during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. Five other associations signed the letter, which followed a similar letter from SFA to the SEC and the Financial Standards Accounting Board on March 25.