SEC Gives Banks Green Light to Defer Credit Loss Deadlines (1)

The SEC assured banks Friday that they would still be in compliance with U.S. accounting rules if they opted to delay a major shift in the way they account for credit loss reserves.

Sagar Teotia, chief accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said the regulator would consider the deferral that Congress created for the loan loss rules to comply with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. The relaxed deadlines would be available only for the time periods spelled out in the coronavirus relief package.

It’s an important clarification from the securities regulator. Banks had been waiting for it since ...