Bank of New York Mellon Earnings Hurt by Low Interest Rates

As the big banks report fourth-quarter earnings, the biggest questions have been revolving around their stress tests and credit losses. In early 2020, most banks instituted the current expected credit losses (CECL) format, which tries to estimate losses over an entire economic cycle. While those credit losses have remained well-contained -- so far -- banks have felt the effects of lower benchmark interest rates as the Federal Reserve has dropped the fed funds rate to near zero.