1、CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress INSIGHTINSIGHTi i COVID-19-Related Impact on the Banking Industry: Conditions in the First Quarter 2021 September 9, 2021 Although bank regulation is designed to allow banks to withstand some amount of unexpected losses, some worry that the
2、 economic ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic could result in enough borrowers missing loan payments to cause distress for banks. This Insight presents certain bank industry statistics for the first quarter 2021 and examines how the pandemic might be affecting the industry. Background Economic do
3、wnturns jeopardize bank income as the likelihood of losses from missed payments increases, ultimately reducing bank profitability. Meanwhile, bank liabilitiesthe deposits they hold and the debt they oweobligate banks to make funds available to depositors and creditors. If borrower repayments decline
4、 enough, a banks ability to meet its obligations could become impaired, potentially causing it to fail. In contrast, bank capitallargely equity stock and retained profits from earlier periodsenables a bank to absorb a certain amount of losses without failing. For this reason, bank regulators require
