In their fourth-quarter 2019 earnings calls, large U.S. public banks began to discuss the impacts of adopting the new current expected credit loss (CECL) standard, which became effective for them on Jan. 1, 2020. Although it did not affect 2019 financial statements, analysts were very interested in what the transition to CECL would mean for 2020 results.

Maria L. Murphy, CPA, is a regular contributor to Compliance Week. She is a senior content management analyst, accounting and auditing products, CCH tax and accounting North America for Wolters Kluwer....