The provision for loan losses has a discretionary aspect. The bank manager has private information relative to the success of loan restructuring, and he/she has discretion over both the amount and the timing of the provision. If it is assumed that financial markets are not fully aggregating in the sense that market prices do not reflect all information, especially that which is not publicly available, then it is possible that managers may elect to use financial policy decisions to convey information to the market. Under certain circumstances, the manager may credibly signal his/her private information to financial markets through his/her provision policy.