The Impact of SFAS No. 157 on Commercial Banks

During 2008, U. S. banks were mired in a credit crisis. According to a group of economists and bankers, one cause of the 2008 credit crisis was an accounting rule termed mark-to-market. This rule required banks to write down large portions of their investment portfolios. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the mark-to-market model on a sample of banks for the first three quarters of the year 2008. Results indicated that while banks grew by 20% over time, the percentage of assets measured at fair value rose only slightly. Additionally, the results indicated that applying the mark-to-market rule did not reduce the regulatory capital position of banks.