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Assured Guaranty Responds to S&Pa?s Rating Change of Assured Guaranty Corp. and Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. from AAA Negat

^{Published on 2010-10-25 10:00:20 - Market Wire}
 

HAMILTON, Bermuda--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--In response to the change by Standard & Poora™s Ratings Services (S&P) of the financial strength ratings of bond insurers Assured Guaranty Corp. (AGC) and Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. (AGM) from AAA Negative Outlook to AA+ Stable Outlook, Dominic Frederico, President and Chief Executive Officer of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE: AGO) (athe Companya or aAssured Guarantya), today made the following statement:

aWe are surprised by this rating action, which comes on the heels of S&Pa™s affirmation of our AAA ratings in June 2010 and at a time when we are seeing positive developments in our market share and new business production in the U.S. municipal business and achieving significant success in our loss mitigation efforts. We believe our GAAP and statutory capital resources and portfolio meet AAA standards. These new ratings represent changes in S&Pa™s AAA criteria and market outlook rather than any material change in our credit profile or capital position. Further, in assigning these new ratings, S&P did not provide us with critical assumptions and key sensitivities used in their analysis of certain risks in our RMBS and TruPS portfolios or quantify their view of the extent of our AAA capital shortfall, all of which we believe is required under the Dodd-Frank Act.

aThrough the most challenging economic environment in recent memory, we have earned operating income in every quarter since our initial public offering in 2004. Furthermore, we expect that our third quarter 2010 operating earnings per share will exceed the consensus estimate of $0.80 per share, as reported by Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters. Additionally, as of mid-October, mortgage loan originators that have breached representations and warranties have repurchased or agreed to repurchase a cumulative total of $412 million of loans, of which $111 million were in the third quarter alone. We continue to find a significant amount of defective loans and expect to continue to make substantial recoveries.

aWe are committed to obtaining the highest ratings available and will continue to work with S&P to achieve that goal. Additionally, we are dedicated to putting our capital behind our credit assessments and providing cost savings to issuers and security to investors, and we believe we have the capital, people and ratings to add significant value in our markets.a

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

Any forward-looking statements made in this press release reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and financial performance and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in these statements. For example, Assured Guaranty's forward-looking statements regarding its capital resources, its market penetration and its representation and warranty putback efforts could be affected by adverse development in its insured portfolio, lower market demand for its product, further ratings downgrade, resolution of legal actions initiated by the Company in connection with potential insurance loss recoveries in a manner adverse to the Companya™s position, developments in the world's financial and capital markets, changes in the world's credit markets, more severe or frequent losses affecting the adequacy of Assured Guaranty's loss reserve, the impact of market volatility on the mark-to-market of our contracts written in credit default swap form, reduction in the amount of reinsurance portfolio opportunities available to the Company, decreased demand or increased competition, changes in accounting policies or practices, changes in laws or regulations, other governmental actions, difficulties with the execution of Assured Guaranty's business strategy, contract cancellations, Assured Guaranty's dependence on customers, loss of key personnel, adverse technological developments, the effects of mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, natural or man-made catastrophes, other risks and uncertainties that have not been identified at this time, management's response to these factors, and other risk factors identified in Assured Guaranty's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are made as of October 25, 2010. Assured Guaranty undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Assured Guaranty Ltd. is a publicly-traded Bermuda-based holding company. Its operating subsidiaries provide credit enhancement products to the U.S. and international public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. More information on the Assured Guaranty family of companies can be found at: [ www.assuredguaranty.com ]