Constraints on provisioning at public versus private community banks

Abstract

We compare the responses of publicly held versus privately held community banks to the June 2016 issuance of the current expected credit loss (CECL) standard, which altered the way US banks provision for loan losses. We find that following issuance but before implementation, the relation between earnings and provisions strengthened among privately held banks but not among publicly held banks. This is consistent with US Securities and Exchange Commission regulation and market monitoring placing greater constraints on publicly held banks relative to privately held banks, preventing publicly held banks from moving toward the CECL standard early.