The Basel III international capital standards recently proposed by U.S. banking regulators may have been like a slow train coming, visible from a distance for a long time, but that’s not keeping some surprises from being detected. One such surprise has to do with potentially negative public policy implications when it comes to fair lending, as far as some top industry attorneys are concerned. Currently, mortgages backed by Ginnie Mae get a zero risk weight, while those backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac get a 20 percent risk weight. Most residential mortgages without Uncle Sam’s...