Pending regulatory approval,
By acquiring FSA on July 1, 2009, Assured Guaranty expanded its presence in the bond insurance industry by offering issuers and investors the financial strength and flexibility of two separately capitalized bond insurers. Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp., formerly FSA, now serves the municipal market exclusively, and Assured Guaranty Corp. provides financial guaranty insurance to both the municipal and structured finance sectors.
"Since completing the acquisition, we have been contemplating this name change to highlight the role of the municipal-only bond insurance company, and to better communicate that we are offering municipal bond issuers and investors a choice between two proven, financially strong guarantors,” says Dominic Frederico, president and CEO of Assured Guaranty. “With the only established bond insurers to have come through the recession in strong capital positions, the Assured Guaranty family of companies, which now includes Assured Guaranty Corp., Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. and Assured Guaranty Re Ltd. (licensed and operating in Bermuda), remain committed to the municipal market and have the capital resources to meet its needs.”
Assured Guaranty has continued to see a strong demand for its financial guaranty products in the U.S. municipal market throughout 2009, as demonstrated by its previously announced third quarter 2009 U.S. public finance new issue volume. The two direct bond insurers guaranteed a total of approximately $8.7 billion in U.S. municipal new issue volume, representing 9.6% of total par issued for the third quarter 2009. Year to date, both companies combined have guaranteed approximately $32.0 billion in new issues, representing 9.5% of public finance new issuance, according to Assured Guaranty.
