by Calculated Risk on 2/21/2008 05:13:00 PM
Thursday, February 21, 2008
MBIA CEO Recommends Split
From Bloomberg: MBIA Advocates Severing Municipal, Corporate Units
MBIA Inc.'s new Chief Executive Officer Jay Brown, under pressure to come up with a plan to rescue the troubled company, said bond insurers must separate their municipal guarantees from asset-backed securities.The three largest insurers all want to split their businesses.
...Bond insurers should also stop issuing credit-default swaps, Brown said.
Moody's Investors Service, which has AAA ratings on the insurance arms of MBIA and Ambac, has said it plans to complete a review of the ratings by the end of the month. Standard & Poor's is also considering a downgrade of the companies' ratings.
From the WSJ Feb 17th: Ambac in Talks to Split Itself Up
From the WSJ Feb 15th: FGIC Will Request Break-Up