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Assured Guaranty Corp. and Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. Continue to Have Strong Deal Flow After Recent S&P Rating Change to

^{Published on 2010-11-01 05:40:54 - Market Wire}
 

HAMILTON, Bermuda--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) (AGL and, together with its subsidiaries, Assured Guaranty) announced that its direct bond insurance units Assured Guaranty Corp. (AGC) and Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. (AGM) have had 70 U.S. municipal transactions with a par amount of $941 million close as scheduled or price with AGCa™s and AGMa™s insurance since Standard & Poor's Ratings Servicesa™ (S&P) rating change of AGC and AGM to AA+ Stable on October 25. In aggregate, the business was well diversified across sectors of the market and had average underlying ratings of Single-A, based on our internal ratings, which is consistent with our business written in previous quarters.

"We believe the significant volume of transactions insured reflects the marketa™s confidence in the strength and stability of our guaranty and our value proposition, which provides credit underwriting, negotiated structure, surveillance and remediation, in addition to our guaranty of scheduled principal and interest when due"

aWe believe the significant volume of transactions insured reflects the marketa™s confidence in the strength and stability of our guaranty and our value proposition, which provides credit underwriting, negotiated structure, surveillance and remediation, in addition to our guaranty of scheduled principal and interest when due,a said Dominic Frederico, president and chief executive officer of Assured Guaranty.

aOur highest priorities are to exercise strict underwriting discipline and to serve municipal issuers by ensuring they can access the capital markets on a cost effective basis. While we are disappointed with S&Pa™s action, we are pleased with the marketa™s support. We will continue to seek comprehensive regulation of the rating agencies and the financial guarantors to achieve a more consistent and supportable business model.a

During the first nine months of 2010, the companies have insured approximately 1300 transactions, representing 9.2% of all new tax-exempt issues in the municipal market.

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 could be affected by lower market demand for its product, further ratings downgrade, adverse development in its insured portfolio, resolution of legal actions initiated by the Company in connection with potential insurance loss recoveries in a manner adverse to the Company'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 November 1, 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 ].