Basel III Delay: Kiss Mortgage Deconsolidation Goodbye?

In case you missed the headline story in National Mortgage News Online, Basel III has been delayed by banking regulators -- which could mean absolutely nothing or a whole lot in regard to where the megabanks are headed in terms of mortgage servicing rights. As we’ve noted in past blog postings, there has been talk that Basel III might be killed entirely. In delaying the rule regulators (interestingly) gave no guidance on when a new date might be created. Readers of NMN know that Basel III caps MSRs (as an asset) at 10% to 15% of core capital from the current allowance of 100%. Does this mean that the MSR deconsolidation we’ve seen over the past year could reverse?