scholarly journals Loan loss provisions and income smoothing – Do shareholders matter?

2021 ◽  
Vol 78 ◽  
pp. 101909
Author(s):  
Dorota Skała
Author(s):  
Sparta Sparta ◽  
Nadya Trinova

Loan loss provisions in banks plays a vital role in maintaining the stability and health of banks, as well as fulfilling the function of banks in channeling public funds. This study aims to determine the effect of income smoothing and the behavior of procyclicality against reserves of credit losses losses, as well as the role of adoption of IAS 39 in PSAK 55 in moderating the influence of these two variables. The object of this study are conventional commercial banks that are listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange within the research period of 2008-2017. By using purposive sampling method, I obtained 20 bank samples and 196 observations. The hypotheses in this research are tested using multiple regression analysis. This study shows that income smoothing has a positive influence on loan loss provisions, whereas procyclicality and IAS 39 adoption in PSAK 55 do not affect loan loss provisions significantly. Meanwhile, IAS 39 adoption in PSAK 55 weakens the positive influence of income smoothing, however it cannot moderate the influence of procyclicality on loan loss provisions.  


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 36-51
Author(s):  
Giacomo Ceccobelli ◽  
Alessandro Giosi

The purpose of this research is to investigate earnings management purposes in the banking industry via loan loss provisions using a sample of 156 banks from 19 European countries under the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) over the period 2006-2016. Using regression analysis, banks are tested for income smoothing, capital management, and signaling purposes. This study contributes to the literature exploring the relationship between accounting quality and earnings management objectives by analyzing which one of the latter is the more important determinant. The hypotheses of income smoothing and signaling are strongly approved since loan loss provisions consist as a tool for smoothing the amount of net profit and to convey private information to the market; on the contrary, the capital management purpose is not supported. Additionally, the analysis finds that non-discretionary components of loan loss provisions (essentially non-performing loans) have played an important role, especially during the financial crisis. Furthermore, the research is aimed at investigating the peculiar regulatory and supervisory environment in the banking industry on the basis of a set of indexes included in the “Bank Regulation and Supervision Survey”, carried out by the World Bank. Unlike previous literature, this study takes into account the latest release of the survey, emphasizes the role of an on-site inspection as the main supervisory tool and extends the analysis of the interaction between bank regulation and supervision and earnings management. The results demonstrate that such controls can influence the behaviour of bank managers in terms of income smoothing and signaling practices. Therefore they can be considered as effective instruments for reducing banks’ management accounting discretion, making financial statements more reliable.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peterson K. Ozili

Purpose The purpose of the study is to investigate whether discretionary ‘loan loss provisioning’ by Western European banks is driven by income smoothing or credit risk considerations. Design/methodology/approach To test the income smoothing hypothesis, the study uses ordinary least square regression to examine the relation between loan loss provisions and earnings before tax and loan loss provisions in the post-financial crisis period. Findings The authors find evidence that discretionary provisioning by Western European banks is driven by income smoothing incentives in the post-financial crisis period, particularly, among listed banks. Also, it is observed that discretionary provisioning is significantly influenced by credit risk factors, mainly, non-performing loans and loan growth. Also, it is found that discretionary provisioning by Western European banks is procyclical with fluctuations in the economic cycle. Overall, the implication of the findings is that discretionary provisioning among Western European banks is driven by both income smoothing and credit risk considerations. Originality/value This study focus on banks in Western Europe in contrast to prior European studies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-201
Author(s):  
Amina Malik ◽  
Haroon Aziz ◽  
Buerhan Saiti ◽  
Shahab Ud Din

Abstract This study investigates the impact of variability in earnings, stringent regulatory measures and the trend of extending loans while keeping in view deposit ratio on income smoothening practices for a sample of 20 commercial banks listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) from the year 2010 to 2017. The likelihood of smoothing activities is measured through its widely used proxy, i.e. loan loss provisions (LLPs). Moreover, earnings before tax and provisions (EBTP) and loan to deposit ratio (LD) have been incorporated to determine the impact of earnings and loans to deposit ratio on income smoothening. We find that commercial banks are less likely to manage earnings through smoothening practices, which shows that commercial banks adhere to regulatory restrictions. This is further supported by the fact that income smoothing activities decrease as a result of the increase in capital adequacy ratios after the imposition of stringent rules, which exert greater regulatory pressure on banks, whereas the pace of income smoothing increases as a result of an increase in loans to deposit ratio, which reveals that banks take credit risk but manage within the ambit of regulatory restrictions. Based on the findings, we argue that the imposition of regulatory restrictions through the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has not only discouraged income smoothening through loan loss provisions but also enhances reporting quality. The results of this study provide useful insights for investors, creditors and stakeholders.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigid Eko Pramono ◽  
Hilda Rossieta ◽  
Wahyoe Soedarmono

Purpose This study aims to test whether loan loss provisions in Islamic banks is procyclical by explicitly examining the link between non-discretionary provisions and loan growth. In the next stage, this paper tests whether the link between non-discretionary provisions and loan growth is conditional on bank capitalization and lending. This is to identify whether bank-specific factors affect the procyclicality of non-discretionary provisions and whether such procyclicality can be explained by income smoothing in banks with different capitalization and loan profiles. Design/methodology/approach This study is conducted in four stages. The first stage identifies the determinants of loan loss provisions. The second stage investigates whether income smoothing is affected by capitalization and lending activities. In the third stage, the link between non-discretionary provisions and loan growth is examined. In the fourth stage, this paper tests whether the link between non-discretionary provisions and loan growth is affected by bank capitalization and lending. A two-way panel-fixed effect model is used. Findings Non-discretionary provisions are procyclical, particularly for banks with lower capitalization and lending activities, because such banks do not conduct income smoothing. Specifically, banks with lower capitalization experience a decline in loan growth when non-discretionary provisions to cover credit risk increase. Research limitations/implications The dataset used in this study follows Soedarmono et al. (2017) and does not enable to differentiate types of financing products in Islamic banks that may exacerbate or mitigate the procyclicality of non-discretionary provisions. Originality/value This paper extends prior literature on the procyclicality of loan loss provisions by specifically investigating the influence of non-discretionary provisions on loan growth in Islamic banks and whether such relationship depends on the role of income smoothing undertaken by banks with different levels of capitalization and lending. This paper builds on the work of Soedarmono et al. (2017) in which they do not explicitly examine the relationship between loan loss provisions and loan growth.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peterson K. Ozili

PurposeThis paper analyzes banking sector earnings management using loan loss provisions (LLPs) in the Fintech era.Design/methodology/approachRegression methodology was used to examine earnings management in the Fintech era.FindingsThe findings show evidence for bank income smoothing using LLPs. There is greater income smoothing in the second-wave Fintech era compared to the first-wave Fintech era, and the presence of strong institutions did not lower income smoothing in the second-wave era. Bank income smoothing is also greater in (1) Bank of International Settlement (BIS) and EU countries than in non-EU countries and G7 countries, (2) well-capitalized banking sectors and (3) during economic booms in the second-wave Fintech era.Practical implicationsThe competition for loans and deposits by banks and Fintech lenders in the second-wave Fintech era created additional incentives for banks to engage in income smoothing to report competitive and stable earnings.Originality/valueThe study uses a unique approach to detect country-level earnings management in the banking sector. Also, this study extends the bank earnings management literature by introducing the Fintech era as a determinant of the extent of bank earnings management.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-431
Author(s):  
Peterson K. Ozili

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine bank loan loss provisioning behavior during election years – focusing on the effect of elections on banking sector loan loss provisioning. Design/methodology/approach Regression analysis was used to analyze the behavior of bank loan loss provisioning in developed countries during election years. Findings The findings reveal that the banking sectors in developed countries have higher loan loss provisions (LLPs) in election years. Also, income smoothing is present in election years which supports the income smoothing hypothesis. Also, banking sectors with high capital levels have higher LLPs. Although, there were no significant differences in bank loan loss provisioning during election years across the four bloc, the EU banking sectors and the banking sectors of BIS member countries generally have higher LLPs while the non-EU banking sectors and the banking sectors of the G7 member countries generally have fewer LLPs. Originality/value The literature has not explored the effect of political factors such as “election-year risk” on the managers’ discretion in banks. This is the first study that explores the effect of political change on managerial discretion in banks.


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