MBA's Stevens Reacts to Basel III Announcement

David H. Stevens, President & CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today issued the following statement in reaction to the announcement by federal financial regulators that they do not expect new proposed capital requirement under Basel III to go into effect by January 1, 2013.
 
“This is a positive development, and hopefully signals that the regulators are rethinking their problematic Basel III rule and are going back to the drawing board for a new proposed rule.  The rules, as proposed this summer, would have had serious negative repercussions across the lending landscape, with the impact felt most acutely by residential, commercial and multifamily real estate borrowers, investors and lenders in the form of tighter credit and higher costs.
 
“It is critical now that regulators re-propose Basel implementation rules that more appropriately allocate risk-weights on real estate-related assets, whether they be residential, commercial or multifamily loans and securities and/or servicing rights.  Otherwise, credit for real estate transactions will tighten and consumer and borrower costs will go up, as banks reduce their real estate lending and mortgage servicing business.”
 
A copy of MBA’s October 17, 2012 comment letter on the Basel III proposed rule can be found here.