S&P Upgrades Assured Guaranty's Operating Subsidiaries to AA Stable

HAMILTON, Bermuda--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (S&P) has raised to AA Stable Outlook (from AA- Stable Outlook) the financial strength ratings of bond insurers Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. (AGM), Municipal Assurance Corp. (MAC) and Assured Guaranty Corp. (AGC), European financial guarantors Assured Guaranty (Europe) Ltd. (AGE) and Assured Guaranty (UK) Ltd., and reinsurer Assured Guaranty Re Ltd., which are the principal operating subsidiaries of Assured Guaranty Ltd. AGO(together with its subsidiaries, Assured Guaranty).

Following S&P's announcement of the upgrades, Dominic Frederico, President and CEO, said:

“We are pleased that S&P has recognized the strength of our competitive position and market acceptance along with our extremely strong capital base and our pricing discipline.

"As the proven leader in bond insurance, we have a robust business model and a 30-year track record of service to U.S. and other select financial markets.

“Our model allows us to provide the exceptional value of our insurance to small, medium and large transactions while maintaining our disciplined approach to underwriting, enterprise risk management and pricing.

"And, with our close to $400 million in annual investment income and over $4 billion of unearned premium reserve, we have the resources to remain patient while looking for opportunities that match both our pricing and credit criteria.

"With the upgrades of AGM, MAC, AGE and AGC, no other active guarantor has a higher S&P rating than the AA Stable of our financial guaranty companies, and MAC's AA+ Stable rating from Kroll Bond Rating Agency is the highest rating in our industry from any nationally recognized statistical rating organization.”

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

Any forward-looking statements made in this press release reflect Assured Guaranty's current views with respect to future events 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. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those resulting from Assured Guaranty's inability to maintain our current financial ratings; further actions that the rating agencies may take with respect to the financial strength ratings of Assured Guaranty; adverse developments in Assured Guaranty's insured portfolio; and 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 March 18, 2014. 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, except as required by law.

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 Assured Guaranty and its subsidiaries can be found at AssuredGuaranty.com.