IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/abacus/v58y2022i2p262-299.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Examination of Other‐than‐temporary Impairments: Evidence from FSP FAS 115‐2 and FAS 124‐2

Author

Listed:
  • Tuba Toksoz

Abstract

This study investigates amendments to the other‐than‐temporary impairment (OTTI) measurement and recognition guidance for debt securities in the Financial Accounting Standards Board's Staff Position FAS 115‐2 and FAS 124‐2 (‘the FSP’). The FSP permits the OTTI charge for debt securities to be split into the credit loss amount recognized in net income (NI) and the amount related to all other factors (noncredit loss) recognized in other comprehensive income (OCI) under certain instances. Thus, the FSP provides banks with additional discretion in recognizing the amount of unrealized losses in NI. Using quarterly accounting data on US bank holding companies from the first quarter of 2010 to the fourth quarter of 2016, I examine whether banks’ decisions regarding OTTI bifurcation are associated with financial reporting and regulatory capital incentives. First, I predict and find that proxies for regulatory capital management, income smoothing, and big bath behaviour impact the percentage of OTTI recognized in OCI. Further evidence suggests that banks with histories of income smoothing through loan loss provision and realized security gains and losses assign a greater share of OTTI to OCI. Then, I predict and find that banks manage OTTI recognized in NI downward to meet quarterly financial reporting benchmarks. Finally, I show that banks with a higher discretionary proportion of OTTI recognized in OCI increase their lending over the subsequent quarter.

Suggested Citation

  • Tuba Toksoz, 2022. "An Examination of Other‐than‐temporary Impairments: Evidence from FSP FAS 115‐2 and FAS 124‐2," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 58(2), pages 262-299, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:abacus:v:58:y:2022:i:2:p:262-299
    DOI: 10.1111/abac.12262
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/abac.12262
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/abac.12262?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Patrick Bolton & Xavier Freixas, 2006. "Corporate Finance and the Monetary Transmission Mechanism," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(3), pages 829-870.
    2. Kishan, Ruby P & Opiela, Timothy P, 2000. "Bank Size, Bank Capital, and the Bank Lending Channel," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 32(1), pages 121-141, February.
    3. Scott B. Jackson & Xiaotao (Kelvin) Liu, 2010. "The Allowance for Uncollectible Accounts, Conservatism, and Earnings Management," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 565-601, June.
    4. Huizinga, H.P. & Laeven, L., 2009. "Accounting Discretion of Banks During a Financial Crisis," Other publications TiSEM b94d0405-1ced-4aa4-870b-2, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    5. Thakor, Anjan V, 1996. "Capital Requirements, Monetary Policy, and Aggregate Bank Lending: Theory and Empirical Evidence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(1), pages 279-324, March.
    6. Degeorge, Francois & Patel, Jayendu & Zeckhauser, Richard, 1999. "Earnings Management to Exceed Thresholds," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 72(1), pages 1-33, January.
    7. Roychowdhury, Sugata, 2006. "Earnings management through real activities manipulation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 335-370, December.
    8. Kanagaretnam, Kiridaran & Lim, Chee Yeow & Lobo, Gerald J., 2010. "Auditor reputation and earnings management: International evidence from the banking industry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 2318-2327, October.
    9. Ahmed, Anwer S. & Takeda, Carolyn & Thomas, Shawn, 1999. "Bank loan loss provisions: a reexamination of capital management, earnings management and signaling effects," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 1-25, November.
    10. DeAngelo, Linda Elizabeth, 1981. "Auditor size and audit quality," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 183-199, December.
    11. Christian Laux & Christian Leuz, 2010. "Did Fair-Value Accounting Contribute to the Financial Crisis?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(1), pages 93-118, Winter.
    12. Beaver, William H. & McNichols, Maureen F. & Nelson, Karen K., 2003. "Management of the loss reserve accrual and the distribution of earnings in the property-casualty insurance industry," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 347-376, August.
    13. DeAngelo, Linda Elizabeth, 1988. "Managerial competition, information costs, and corporate governance : The use of accounting performance measures in proxy contests," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 3-36, January.
    14. Jeong†Bon Kim & Richard Chung & Michael Firth, 2003. "Auditor Conservatism, Asymmetric Monitoring, and Earnings Management," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(2), pages 323-359, June.
    15. Francis, J & Hanna, JD & Vincent, L, 1996. "Causes and effects of discretionary asset write-offs," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34, pages 117-134.
    16. Robert Bushman & Wayne Landsman, 2010. "The pros and cons of regulating corporate reporting: A critical review of the arguments," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(3), pages 259-273.
    17. Laux, Christian & Leuz, Christian, 2009. "The crisis of fair-value accounting: Making sense of the recent debate," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(6-7), pages 826-834, August.
    18. Francis, Jere R., 1984. "The effect of audit firm size on audit prices : A study of the Australian Market," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 133-151, August.
    19. Murphy, Kevin J., 2000. "Performance standards in incentive contracts," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 245-278, December.
    20. Rodrigo Cifuentes & Hyun Song Shin & Gianluigi Ferrucci, 2005. "Liquidity Risk and Contagion," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(2-3), pages 556-566, 04/05.
    21. Moyer, Susan E., 1990. "Capital adequacy ratio regulations and accounting choices in commercial banks," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 123-154, July.
    22. Yen†Jung Lee & Kathy R. Petroni & Min Shen, 2006. "Cherry Picking, Disclosure Quality, and Comprehensive Income Reporting Choices: The Case of Property†Liability Insurers," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(3), pages 655-692, September.
    23. Timothy W. Koch & Larry D. Wall, 2000. "Bank loan-loss accounting: a review of theoretical and empirical evidence," Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, vol. 85(Q2), pages 1-20.
    24. Altamuro, Jennifer & Beatty, Anne, 2010. "How does internal control regulation affect financial reporting?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1-2), pages 58-74, February.
    25. Healy, Paul M., 1985. "The effect of bonus schemes on accounting decisions," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1-3), pages 85-107, April.
    26. Beatty, Anne & Liao, Scott, 2011. "Do delays in expected loss recognition affect banks' willingness to lend?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 1-20, June.
    27. Burgstahler, David & Dichev, Ilia, 1997. "Earnings management to avoid earnings decreases and losses," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 99-126, December.
    28. Chircop, Justin & Novotny-Farkas, Zoltán, 2016. "The economic consequences of extending the use of fair value accounting in regulatory capital calculations," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 183-203.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dechow, Patricia & Ge, Weili & Schrand, Catherine, 2010. "Understanding earnings quality: A review of the proxies, their determinants and their consequences," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 344-401, December.
    2. Beatty, Anne & Liao, Scott, 2014. "Financial accounting in the banking industry: A review of the empirical literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 339-383.
    3. Ozili, Peterson K, 2017. "Bank Loan Loss Provisions Research: A Review," MPRA Paper 76495, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Zainuldin, Mohd Haniff & Lui, Tze Kiat, 2020. "Earnings management in financial institutions: A comparative study of Islamic banks and conventional banks in emerging markets," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    5. Delis, Manthos D. & Hasan, Iftekhar & Iosifidi, Maria & Li, Lingxiang, 2018. "Accounting quality in banking: The role of regulatory interventions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 297-317.
    6. Beltratti, Andrea & Spear, Nasser & Szabo, Mark Daniel, 2013. "The Value Relevance and Timeliness of Write-downs During the Financial Crisis of 2007–2009," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 467-494.
    7. Mary E. Barth & Javier Gomez-Biscarri & Ron Kasznik & Germán López-Espinosa, 2017. "Bank earnings and regulatory capital management using available for sale securities," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1761-1792, December.
    8. Mary E. Barth & Javier Gomez-Biscarri & Ron Kasznik & Germán López-Espinosa, 2012. "Fair Value Accounting, Earnings Management and the use of Available-for-Sale Instruments by Bank Managers," Faculty Working Papers 05/12, School of Economics and Business Administration, University of Navarra.
    9. Mohammad M. Alhadab & Bassam Al-Own, 2017. "Earnings Management and Banks Performance: Evidence from Europe," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 7(4), pages 134-145, October.
    10. Malgorzata Olszak & Mateusz Pipien & Sylwia Roszkowska & Iwona Kowalska, 2014. "The effects of capital on bank lending in large EU banks – the role of procyclicality, income smoothing, regulations and supervision," Faculty of Management Working Paper Series 52014, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management.
    11. Fargher, Neil & Zhang, John Ziyang, 2014. "Changes in the measurement of fair value: Implications for accounting earnings," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 184-199.
    12. Shaharudin, Roselee, 2004. "A Review on Accounts Manipulation Via Loan Loss Provisions to Manage Regulatory Capital and Earnings Along Business Cycle," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 38, pages 99-123.
    13. Vander Bauwhede, Heidi & Willekens, Marleen & Gaeremynck, Ann, 2003. "Audit firm size, public ownership, and firms' discretionary accruals management," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 1-22.
    14. Hiu Lam Choy, 2012. "Assessing earnings management flexibility," Review of Accounting and Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 11(4), pages 340-376, October.
    15. Małgorzata Olszak & Mateusz Pipień & Iwona Kowalska & Sylwia Roszkowska, 2017. "What Drives Heterogeneity of Cyclicality of Loan-Loss Provisions in the EU?," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 51(1), pages 55-96, February.
    16. Dung Viet Tran & M. Kabir Hassan & Reza Houston, 2020. "Discretionary loan loss provision behavior in the US banking industry," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 605-645, August.
    17. Kohlbeck, Mark & Smith, Thomas & Valencia, Adrian, 2017. "Auditors and net transfers of Level 3 fair-valued financial instruments," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 27-39.
    18. Pelham Gore & Peter Pope & Ashni Singh, 2007. "Earnings management and the distribution of earnings relative to targets: UK evidence," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 123-149.
    19. Fang, Yiwei & Hasan, Iftekhar & Li, Lingxiang, 2014. "Banking reform, risk-taking, and earnings quality – Evidence from transition countries," BOFIT Discussion Papers 19/2014, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    20. Lakshmi Balasubramanyan & James B. Thomson & Saeed Zaman, 2017. "Evidence of Forward-Looking Loan Loss Provisioning with Credit Market Information," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 52(3), pages 191-223, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:abacus:v:58:y:2022:i:2:p:262-299. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0001-3072 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.