Tackle the Complexity of IFRS 9 and CECL Standards

White Paper

Tackle the Complexity of IFRS 9 and CECL Standards

Why some financial institutions struggle with credit loss allowance estimation – and what the leading ones do differently


The US standard for current expected credit loss (CECL) greatly increases the complexity of the allowance estimation process. Outside the US, the International Financial Reporting Standard 9 (IFRS 9) is having the same effect.

Implementing the processes and systems for compliance is no small task, in part because the standards are new, and there’s no consensus on implementation specifics. No matter how the new standards are interpreted, compliance will require integrating risk and finance; building, testing and managing new models; and managing a new level of data complexity.

This paper presents a high-level view of best practices for getting this right, including recommendations for organizational structure, data management, model development and management, systems and processes, governance and controls, reports and documentation.