Based on regulators’ arguments that higher recessionary provisioning increases banks’ future capital inadequacy concerns, we hypothesize a greater reduction in recessionary lending for banks with a greater versus smaller delay in expected loss recognition. Furthermore, we predict that the lending-capital ratio link during recessions is higher for banks with a greater delay. Finally, to corroborate the effect of provisioning on pro-cyclicality, we also examine how equity changes unrelated to the provision differ for banks with greater versus smaller delays during recessions versus expansions, to better understand how provisioning differences affect lending pro-cyclicality. We predict that banks that delay expected loss recognition less raise more capital or reduce dividends to maintain their regulatory capital ratios during expansions