Credit unions consistently cite the CECL standard as one of, if not the, biggest compliance challenge they are facing, and FASB should search for any opportunities to provide relief to credit unions, CUNA wrote Wednesday.

FASB has issued its proposal on giving certain entities, including credit unions, additional time to implement the current expected credit loss (CECL) standard, delaying implementation as it applies to credit unions to January 2023.

FASB has issued a second CECL question-and-answer document about the standard, and staff announced that it is planning a series of training sessions discuss the document to help smaller institutions with CECL implementation.

FASB agreed Wednesday to propose a one-year delay in the implementation date for the CECL standard as it applies to credit unions, moving it to January 2023 from the currently scheduled January 2022.

It is essential to delay CECL to study its potential impact and allow consideration of other methods, leading CUNA to support the CECL Consumer Impact and Study Bill of 2019, introduced by Reps. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) and Ted Budd (R-N.C.).

CUNA maintains its longstanding position that CECL is inappropriate for credit unions, and backed a bill Wednesday that would require the standard to be delayed and studied by the SEC along with the federal financial regulators, including the NCUA.

Start educating board members and executives about new financial expectations.

NCUA has previously said assessing a credit union’s preparedness for CECL is a supervisory priority in 2019, and now an AIRES examination questionnaire on CECL preparedness is available with nine questions currently being used by examiners.

Members of the House Financial Services Committee expressed concerns about CECL and cited CUNA data on credit union issues with the standard Tuesday in a hearing with NCUA Chairman Rodney Hood, who said his agency shares those concerns.

The FASB deadline for the new CECL accounting standard is just around the corner. Is your organization prepared?