Current Expected Credit Losses
Current Expected Credit Losses (CECL) is a credit loss accounting standard (model) that was issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) on June 16, 2016. CECL replaces the current Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses (ALLL) accounting standard. The CECL standard focuses on estimation of expected losses over the life of the loans, while the current standard relies on incurred losses. Background The financial crisis of 2007-2008 demonstrated that the then Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses (ALLL) accounting standard/framework did not allow for timely adjustment of reserve levels based on reasonable expectation of future conditions. It relied on losses that were incurred but not realized, i.e., when it was known with some expectation that future cash flows would not be collected. During the crisis, negative outlook of the economy was not explicitly taken into account for ALLL calculations. As a result, reserves were not adjusted for future expected losses. The FASB reviewed the standard and replaced it with CECL. CECL requires expected losses to be estimated over the remaining life of the loans, as opposed to incurred losses of the then-current standard. FASB stated that the new standard would improve “financial reporting by requiring timelier recording of credit