Ambac Commutes Outstanding CDO of ABS Exposure with Counterparties

Ambac Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABK) (Ambac) announced today that it has commuted all of its remaining $16.4 billion of exposure to collateralized debt obligations of asset-backed securities (“CDOs of ABS”).

The commutation agreement with several CDO of ABS counterparties provides that AAC will pay in the aggregate (i) $2.6 billion in cash and (ii) $2.0 billion of newly issued surplus notes of AAC. The surplus notes have a scheduled maturity of June 7, 2020. Interest on the surplus notes is payable at the annual rate of 5.1%. All payments of principal and interest on the surplus notes will be subject to the prior approval of the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance of the State of Wisconsin.

Additionally, (i) certain non-CDO of ABS transactions with par or notional amounting to approximately $1.4 billion were commuted for cash payments of $96.5 million and (ii) it is expected that, subject to certain conditions, certain other non-CDO of ABS exposures with par amounting to a maximum of approximately $1.5 billion will be commuted within the next twelve months for a maximum amount of approximately $115 million of cash plus $60 million of surplus notes of AAC.

Further information about topics covered in this press release can be found in the Form 8-K to be filed by Ambac at www.sec.gov or on Ambac’s web site at www.ambac.com.

*******************

About Ambac

Ambac Financial Group, Inc., headquartered in New York City, is a holding company whose affiliates provided financial guarantees and financial services to clients in both the public and private sectors around the world. Ambac's principal operating subsidiary, Ambac Assurance Corporation, a guarantor of public finance and structured finance obligations, has a Caa2 rating under review for possible upgrade from Moody's Investors Service, Inc. and an R (regulatory intervention) financial strength rating from Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. Ambac Financial Group, Inc. common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol ABK).

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any or all of management’s forward-looking statements here or in other publications may turn out to be incorrect and are based on Ambac management’s current belief or opinions. Ambac’s actual results may vary materially, and there are no guarantees about the performance of Ambac’s securities. Among events, risks, uncertainties or factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are: (1) Ambac has insufficient capital to finance its debt service and operating expense requirements beyond the second quarter of 2011 and may need to seek bankruptcy protection; (2) the unlikely ability of Ambac Assurance to pay dividends to Ambac in the near term; (3) the risk that holders of debt securities or counterparties on credit default swaps or other similar agreements bring claims alleging that the rehabilitation of the Segregated Account constitutes an event of default under the applicable debt indenture or an event of default under the applicable ISDA contract; (4) adverse events arising from the Segregated Account Rehabilitation Proceedings, including the injunctions issued by the Wisconsin rehabilitation court to enjoin certain adverse actions related to the Segregated Account being successfully challenged as not enforceable; (5) litigation arising from the Segregated Account Rehabilitation Proceedings; (6) any changes to the Proposed Settlement, or the failure to consummate the Proposed Settlement; (7) decisions made by the rehabilitator for the benefit of policyholders may result in material adverse consequences for Ambac’s securityholders; (8) potential of rehabilitation proceedings against Ambac Assurance, with resulting adverse impacts; (9) the risk that reinsurers may dispute amounts owed us under our reinsurance agreements; (10) possible delisting of Ambac’s common shares from the NYSE; (11) the risk that market risks impact assets in our investment portfolio or the value of our assets posted as collateral in respect of investment agreements and interest rate swap and currency swap transactions; (12) risks which impact assets in Ambac Assurance’s investment portfolio; (13) risks relating to determination of amount of impairments taken on investments; (14) credit and liquidity risks due to unscheduled and unanticipated withdrawals on investment agreements; (15) market spreads and pricing on insured CDOs and other derivative products insured or issued by Ambac; (16) inadequacy of reserves established for losses and loss expenses, including our inability to realize the remediation recoveries included in our reserves; (17) Ambac’s financial position and the Segregated Account Rehabilitation Proceedings may prompt departures of key employees; (18) the risk of litigation and regulatory inquiries or investigations, and the risk of adverse outcomes in connection therewith, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operations, financial position, profitability or cash flows; (19) difficult economic conditions, which may not improve in the near future, and adverse changes in the economic, credit, foreign currency or interest rate environment in the United States and abroad; (20) the actions of the U. S. Government, Federal Reserve and other government and regulatory bodies to stabilize the financial markets; (21) likely unavailability of adequate capital support and liquidity; (22) credit risk throughout our business, including credit risk related to residential mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”) and large single exposures to reinsurers; (23) default by one or more of Ambac Assurance’s portfolio investments, insured issuers, counterparties or reinsurers; (24) the risk that our risk management policies and practices do not anticipate certain risks and/or the magnitude of potential for loss as a result of unforeseen risks; (25) factors that may influence the amount of installment premiums paid to Ambac, including the imposition of the payment moratorium with respect to claims payments as a result of Segregated Account Rehabilitation Proceedings; (26) changes in prevailing interest rates; (27) the risk of volatility in income and earnings, including volatility due to the application of fair value accounting, required under the relevant derivative accounting guidance, to the portion of our credit enhancement business which is executed in credit derivative form, and due to the adoption of the new financial guarantee insurance accounting standard effective January 1, 2009, which, among other things, introduces volatility in the recognition of premium earnings and losses; (28) changes in accounting principles or practices that may impact Ambac’s reported financial results; (29) legislative and regulatory developments; (30) operational risks, including with respect to internal processes, risk models, systems and employees; (31) changes in tax laws and other tax-related risks; (32) other factors described in the Risk Factors section in Part I, Item 1A of Ambac’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009 and also disclosed from time to time by Ambac in its subsequent reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K, which are available on the Ambac website at www.ambac.com and at the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov; and (33) other risks and uncertainties that have not been identified at this time. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and that Ambac does not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events that arise after the date the statements are made. You are therefore advised to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in Ambac’s reports to the SEC.

AMBAC (NYSE:ABK)
Historical Stock Chart
From Oct 2024 to Nov 2024