I noticed an interesting development in the United States banking system. The Federal Reserve is preparing a serious proposal regarding Basel III, which could fundamentally change the approach to mortgage lending in the United States.

The point is that regulators want to move away from a single risk coefficient to a more flexible system that takes into account the loan-to-value ratio of the property. Michelle Bowman, who is responsible for supervision at the Federal Reserve, says that this will allow capital requirements to better reflect actual risks.

Why is this important? Over the past 15 years, we’ve seen mortgage activity gradually migrate from traditional banks to non-bank institutions. It seems the Federal Reserve wants to stop this by making bank lending more attractive from the perspective of capital requirements.

This is a significant step in the context of the United States economy—such changes directly affect the availability of credit for the public and the competitiveness of the banking sector. If the proposal is approved, we may see a redistribution of financial flows in the U.S. economy.