Regulators' decision to delay reporting for troubled-debt restructurings should allow banks and credit unions to be more nimble modifying loans impaired by the coronavirus outbreak.
The company's plan had drawn strong criticism from bankers about Rakuten's potentially controlling an industrial loan company while engaging in its non-financial businesses.
Accommodations for borrowers affected by the coronavirus pandemic, such as payment delays and fee waivers, are "positive and proactive actions that can manage or mitigate adverse impacts," the regulators said.
The agencies said banks could receive Community Reinvestment Act credit for activities addressing the virus fallout, and clarified earlier guidance encouraging banks to dip into their capital buffers.
The FDIC chairman, citing concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, is the first regulatory chief to call for suspending the accounting standard for expected loan losses.
The voluntary agreements were meant to help the FDIC make staffing changes ahead of a wave of retirements. But concerns about the coronavirus means those plans will be put on hold.
Groups often will oppose mergers on Community Reinvestment Act grounds. But the proposal would tighten standards for when the agency includes “adverse comments” in the process.
In signing off on deposit insurance for the payments giant and student loan servicer, the FDIC sanctioned the first new industrial loan companies in over a decade.
