A look at stories across the HousingWire weekend desk, with more coverage to come on bigger issues: The credit risk-retention rule proposed by regulators to meet the requirements of financial reform under Dodd Frank is misguided and could further choke the housing market by stifling competition and credit availability, a new report from Amherst Securities Group said. The Amherst report dives into the Fed’s controversial plan to require lenders to maintain 5% of the credit risk on loans issued into securities. The only exception to the rule would be the proposed qualified-residential mortgage exception, which exempts lenders from having to retain some of the risk when they meet certain requirements such as a 20% borrower downpayment. The agency also knocked the risk-retention proposal, saying it does not eliminate conflicts of interest in the marketplace and is generally anti-competitive. Banks continued growing their play in the agency MBS segment in the first quarter of 2011, increasing their holdings by $30.6 billion, according to a new report from Barclays Capital (BCS). Barclays issued that conclusion after analyzing data from the National Information Center. Meanwhile, non-agency holdings fell by $8.6 billion over the same period, while CMBS held by large banks dropped $1.5 billion. Peter J. Wallison, once a member of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, is publicly sharing why he dissented from the Commission’s final outcome on the causes of the housing and economic crisis. In a recent article in The American Spectator, Wallison said he dissented from the commission’s majority view, arguing that “the financial crisis would not have occurred if government housing policies had not fostered the creation of an unprecedented number of subprime and otherwise risky loans immediately before the financial crisis began.” He said the Commission’s outcome focused primarily on flaws in the private sector, while ignoring the government’s role. Data analytics provider CoreLogic (CLGX) completed its acquisition of RP Data Limited. The sale became effective last week. Prior to the sale, CoreLogic owned a 40% stake in RP Data, a Brisbane, Australia-based provider of residential and commercial property information. RP Data offers real estate data, electronic property valuations and consumer reports. Moody’s Investors Service (MCO) downgraded $1.9 billion worth of Alt-A residential mortgage-backed securities issued by Bear Stearns ARM Trust in 2004. The downgrade will effect 87 tranches of loans from nine Alt-A deals issued by the Trust. The deals are backed by first-lien, adjustable rate Alt-A residential mortgages. Moody’s announced earlier in the year it would modify its rating criteria for RMBS to reflect concerns about the quality of underlying mortgage loans. Federal regulators did not close any banks last week. Write to: Kerri Panchuk. () ()