Moody´s Investors Service has affirmed the Aaa insurance financial
strength rating of Financial Security Assurance Inc. (FSA) with a
stable outlook. As outlined in Moody´s Rating Methodology for
financial guarantors, Moody´s has evaluated FSA along five key rating
factors: franchise value and strategy, insurance portfolio
characteristics, capital adequacy, profitability and financial
flexibility.
The report states that " FSA´s broad and deep relationships with
issuers, as well as its prominent market position and execution
capabilities in several market sectors, provide the company with a
solid foundation from which to capitalize on today´s market
conditions. The rating agency added that FSA´s large underwriting
volume is also an important indicator of the perceived value of
financial guaranty insurance by the capital markets more generally."
In discussing FSA´s insured portfolio, Moody´s notes that FSA´s
ABS CDO exposure is modest. Commenting on FSA´s exposure to pooled
corporate debt obligations, the majority of which is in synthetic
form, Moody´s says that "the risks presented by such exposures are
manageable by FSA given the conservative underwriting strategy of the
firm, with all deals originated since 2003 being Aaa at origination or
attaching above Aaa subordination levels in the case of synthetic
transactions."
Additionally, Moody´s reported that "FSA´s ownership by Dexia is
considered to be a strength, as evidenced by its capacity and
willingness to provide FSA with additional funding at a time when some
publicly traded guarantors were struggling to raise capital in very
challenging market conditions."
THE COMPANY
Financial Security Assurance Holdings Ltd. (the Company),
headquartered in New York City, is a holding company whose affiliates
provide financial guarantees and financial products to clients in both
the public and private sectors around the world. The principal
operating subsidiary, Financial Security Assurance Inc. (FSA), a
leading guarantor of public finance and asset-backed obligations, has
been assigned Triple-A ratings, the highest ratings available, from
Fitch Ratings, Moody´s Investors Service, Inc., Standard & Poor´s
Ratings Services and Rating and Investment Information, Inc. Through
other subsidiaries, the Company provides FSA-insured financial
products, such as guaranteed investment contracts, to obtain funds at
Triple-A cost and then invests those funds in high-quality, liquid
securities. The Company is a member of the Dexia group.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
The Company relies on the safe harbor for forward-looking
statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. This safe harbor requires that the Company specify important
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those contained in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of
the Company. Accordingly, forward-looking statements by the Company
and its affiliates are qualified by reference to the following
cautionary statements.
In its filings with the SEC, reports to shareholders, press
releases and other written and oral communications, the Company from
time to time makes forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to:
-- projections of revenues, income (or loss), earnings (or loss)
per share, dividends, market share or other financial
forecasts;
-- statements of plans, objectives or goals of the Company or its
management, including those related to growth in adjusted book
value or return on equity; and
-- expected losses on, and adequacy of loss reserves for, insured
transactions.
Words such as "believes," "anticipates," "expects," "intends" and
"plans" and future and conditional verbs such as "will," "should,"
"would," "could" and "may" and similar expressions are intended to
identify forward looking statements but are not the exclusive means of
identifying such statements.
The Company cautions that a number of important factors could
cause actual results to differ materially from the plans, objectives,
expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in forward-looking
statements made by the Company. These factors include:
-- changes in capital requirements or other criteria of
securities rating agencies applicable to FSA;
-- competitive forces, including the conduct of other financial
guaranty insurers;
-- changes in domestic or foreign laws or regulations applicable
to the Company, its competitors or its clients;
-- changes in accounting principles or practices that may result
in a decline in securitization transactions or affect the
Company´s reported financial results;
-- an economic downturn or other economic conditions (such as a
rising interest rate environment) adversely affecting
transactions insured by FSA or its investment portfolio;
-- inadequacy of reserves established by the Company for losses
and loss adjustment expenses;
-- disruptions in cash flow on FSA-insured structured
transactions attributable to legal challenges to such
structures;
-- downgrade or default of one or more of FSA´s reinsurers;
-- market conditions, including the credit quality and market
pricing of securities issued;
-- capacity limitations that may impair investor appetite for
FSA-insured obligations;
-- market spreads and pricing on insured CDS exposures, which may
result in gain or loss due to mark-to-market accounting
requirements;
-- prepayment speeds on FSA-insured asset-backed securities and
other factors that may influence the amount of installment
premiums paid to FSA; and
-- other factors, most of which are beyond the Company´s control.
The Company cautions that the foregoing list of important factors
is not exhaustive. In any event, such forward-looking statements made
by the Company speak only as of the date on which they are made, and
the Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise such
statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
