NEW YORK, May 04, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) --Assured Guaranty Corp. ("AGC") and Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp.
("AGM") announced today that Gregory G. Raab has joined AGC and AGM as
Senior Managing Director, RMBS Workout. He reports directly to Dominic
J. Frederico, President and Chief Executive Officer of Assured Guaranty
Ltd. ("Assured Guaranty") (NYSE:AGO), the parent holding company for AGC
and AGM.
Mr. Raab will lead the group responsible for residential mortgage-backed
securities ("RMBS") loss mitigation and risk remediation, including
enforcing Assured Guaranty's rights to submit or "put back" mortgage
loans that have breached representations and warranties for repurchase
and supervising the obligations of servicers of RMBS transactions that
AGC or AGM have insured.
"Bringing Greg on board adds significantly to our bench strength in the
loss mitigation of our insured RMBS portfolio," said Mr. Frederico. "He
brings a unique combination of experience in structured finance, risk
management and the bond insurance industry. The loss mitigation of our
insured RMBS portfolio is one of our key strategic objectives and an
area of significant opportunity to lower our loss costs."
Mr. Raab said: "I look forward to joining forces with the surveillance
and legal teams at the Assured Guaranty companies to maximize recoveries
in the RMBS portfolio. We are currently evaluating a number of
alternative approaches to effecting recoveries on our RMBS transactions,
and I believe there are a number ways we can intensify this effort."
Most recently, Mr. Raab was Chief Risk Officer and Senior Managing
Director of Ambac Assurance Corporation ("Ambac"), where he led all
restructuring, loss mitigation and risk management initiatives. He
joined Ambac from General Electric Company ("GE"), where he was a Senior
Managing Director and Portfolio Manager for GE Equity, identifying
low-risk complex assets at deep discounts for purchase by GE. From 2000
to 2004, he held a series of positions at bond insurer Financial
Guaranty Insurance Company (FGIC), including Managing
Director-Structured Finance Business Leader and Chief Risk
Officer-Structured Finance, Public Finance and Capital Markets. During
his tenure at FGIC, he repositioned the structured finance business away
from subprime mortgages toward prime mortgages and other asset classes
and helped manage owner GE's sale of FGIC to an investor group.
Assured Guaranty (together with its subsidiaries, the "Company") 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.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:
Any forward-looking statements made in this press release reflect the
current views of Assured Guaranty 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 may not be able to implement its loss
mitigation and risk remediation strategies completely and may be
hindered in its ability to enforce its contractual remedies, such that
it may continue to pay claims and such claims may not be reimbursed
fully, which could have an adverse effect on Assured Guaranty's
financial condition and results of operation. Assured Guaranty's other
forward-looking statements could be affected by: (1) rating agency
action, including a ratings downgrade at any time of Assured Guaranty or
any of its subsidiaries and/or of transactions insured by such
subsidiaries, both of which have occurred in the past; (2) developments
in the world's financial and capital markets that adversely affect
issuers' payment rates, the Company's loss experience, its ability to
cede exposure to reinsurers, its access to capital, its unrealized
(losses) gains on derivative financial instruments or its investment
returns; (3) changes in the world's credit markets, segments thereof or
general economic conditions; (4) more severe or frequent losses
implicating the adequacy of the Company's loss reserve; (5) the impact
of market volatility on the mark-to-market of the Company's contracts
written in credit default swap form; (6) reduction in the amount of
reinsurance portfolio opportunities available to the Company; (7)
decreased demand or increased competition; (8) changes in applicable
accounting policies or practices; (9) changes in applicable laws or
regulations, including insurance and tax laws; (10) other governmental
actions; (11) difficulties with the execution of the Company's business
strategy; (12) contract cancellations; (13) the Company's dependence on
customers; (14) loss of key personnel; (15) adverse technological
developments; (16) the effects of mergers, acquisitions and
divestitures; (17) natural or man-made catastrophes; (18) other risks
and uncertainties that have not been identified at this time; (19)
management's response to these factors; and (20) 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 the date of
this release. 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.
SOURCE: Assured Guaranty Corp.
Assured Guaranty Corp.
Media:
Betsy Castenir, Managing Director, Corporate Communications
212-339-3424 or 917-940-2462
bcastenir@assuredguranty.com
or
Ashweeta Durani, Vice President, Corporate Communications
212-408-6042 or 917-597-2065
adurani@assuredguaranty.com