NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) affirmed its insurance financial strength rating of AA+, with a Stable Outlook, for Municipal Assurance Corp. (MAC), a financial guaranty subsidiary of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (together with its subsidiaries, Assured Guaranty)(NYSE:AGO) on July 14, 2017.

In the report, KBRA noted the following key strengths supporting MAC’s AA+ rating:

• Strong claims-paying resources which can withstand KBRA stress losses in a run-off scenario with a comfortable balance remaining.
• Diverse, high quality insured portfolio; no exposure to Puerto Rico.
• Skilled and disciplined management and staff with deep expertise and market experience.
• A mature and high-functioning operating platform supported by strong governance and risk management systems.

“Once again, KBRA has affirmed MAC’s strong AA+ stable rating, reflecting the high level of protection available to investors in MAC-insured bonds,” said Dominic Frederico, President and CEO of Assured Guaranty. “KBRA subjected MAC’s insured portfolio to rigorous statistical modeling and concluded that MAC’s claims-paying resources are able to withstand KBRA stress losses at a AAA rating level with a comfortable balance remaining,” he added.

MAC is licensed to insure municipal bonds in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. MAC was launched on July 22, 2013 to guarantee only U.S. municipal bonds in the most well understood bond sectors such as general obligations and tax-backed issues for cities, counties and school districts, and public electric, water, sewer and transportation revenue bonds. At March 31, 2017, MAC had $1.4 billion of claims-paying resources and a $52.8* billion direct and assumed insured portfolio. Its highly diversified insured portfolio generates predictable future revenue from its embedded $284* million net unearned premium reserve, which is part of MAC’s $1.1 billion investment portfolio.

In addition to the KBRA rating, MAC’s financial strength is rated AA with a Stable Outlook by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services.

*Based on Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) reporting.

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 changes in rating agency models or opinions, adverse credit developments in MAC’s insured portfolio and the impact of those developments on rating agency models and opinions, 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 July 17, 2017. 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.

MAC is a New York insurance company and a subsidiary of Assured Guaranty Ltd., which is a publicly traded (NYSE: AGO) Bermuda-based holding company. The operating subsidiaries of Assured Guaranty Ltd. provide credit enhancement products to the U.S. and international public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. More information on Assured Guaranty Ltd. and its subsidiaries, including MAC, can be found at AssuredGuaranty.com.

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