An update to its Bank Accounting Advisory Series (BAAS) was issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the regulator said in a release Thursday. And while the BAAS doesn’t comprise official OCC rules or regulations, deviating from the interpretations it contains could “raise supervisory concerns,” it said.
The OCC said this new edition of the BAAS reflects accounting standards issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board on such topics as hedging and credit losses (including the current-expected-credit-losses, or CECL, requirement), and it includes recent answers to frequently asked questions from the industry and examiners.
The BAAS, updated annually, covers a variety of topics and promotes consistent application of accounting standards among national banks and federal savings associations, the OCC said. It does not represent official rules or regulations of the OCC, but it does represent the OCC’s Office of the Chief Accountant’s interpretations of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and regulatory guidance based on the facts and circumstances presented, the agency noted.
“National banks and federal savings associations that deviate from these stated interpretations may raise supervisory concerns,” it said.
Bank Accounting Advisory Series (August 2019)