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’A very messy Ambac lawsuit for JPMorgan
JPMorgan didn’t want this to be made public. You can kind of see why.
Quick background — the bank has been engaged in a legal battle with Ambac since November 2008. The monoline says EMC, Bear Stearns old mortgage-banking arm,
It’s official: Ambac files for Chapter 11
Not with a bang, but a whimper.
Emphasis FT Alphaville’s:
Ambac Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABK) (Ambac or the Company) announced today that it has filed for a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (“Bankruptcy Code”) in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York (“Bankruptcy Court”).
Toxic Pub Co. meets toxic bond insurer
You won’t find Ambac mentioned in Punch Tavern’s most recent annual report.
But it’s there. Hovering — waiting — in the background.
The zombie US bond insurer began guaranteeing some of the British (toxic) pub co.’s formidable securitisation programmes back in 2003.
Ambac in critical condition
Ambac to the … umm … Earth’s core:
Shares in the troubled bond insurer dropped 40 per cent on Monday after the firm said it had decided not to make a scheduled interest rate payment due this November 1st.
Ambaaaac! Trouble in mezzanine tranches of CDOs, that is
Here’s a structured finance blast from the past; some trouble in mezzanine tranches of ABS CDOs.
Last week the ailing (in fact, almost dead) bond insurer Ambac announced it would commute its remaining $16.4bn of of exposure to Collateralised Debt Obligations of Asset-Backed Securities.
Bond insurer blow-up fallout, Las Vegas Monorail edition
Some excellent reporting from Bloomberg on the side effects of Ambac’s part-seizure by its regulator – and for once, for the story has nothing to do with credit default swaps.
Here’s Bloomberg:
March 29 (Bloomberg) — Holders of bonds sold by the Las Vegas Monorail Co.
It’s official: Ambac’s CDS triggered
It’s the event Ambac thought would never, ever come:
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) announced that its Americas Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee resolved that a bankruptcy credit event has occurred in respect of Ambac Assurance Corporation,
Ambac’s regulator moves in, CDS likely triggered
Ambac’s shares tumbled more than 20 per cent in mid-morning trade in New York on Thursday, after its regulator moved to take over some of the bond insurer’s more troubled assets – some $35bn worth.
Regulators in Wisconsin,
Ambac inches closer to the inevitable
Ambac, the bond insurer that warned in November it was rapidly running out of cash, has brought in Blackstone to advise on a restructuring strategy, according to Reuters.
The news agency, citing sources,
The unenviable, uncertain future of the bond insurance industry
One of the most common criticisms of the financial media unleashed during the Not So Great Depression was “you didn’t warn us about [insert little known company, acronym, structured product or dubious form of home loan,
Goldman’s collateral damage
Cast your mind back to that SigTarp report, published last month.
Readers will recall there’s been a persistent stink over whether the efforts of the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury to prop up AIG had the effect of bailing out Goldman Sachs — its largest trading partner.
Bond insurer death watch, FGIC edition
According to the investor relations section of the website of FGIC, the bond insurer part-owned by PMI Group and Blackstone:
FGIC provides irrevocable and unconditional guaranty of timely payment of principal and interest on the securities it insures.
Ambac attack!
On Wednesday bond insurer Ambac stunned investors with what looked like good news.
Ambac Assurance Corp., the main operating branch of the Ambac Financial Group, had been expected by many to reveal a breach of its minimum capital requirement when the company published its third-quarter 8-K this week.
Ambac stuns investors with good news
Ambac, the bond insurer which has warned that it faced possible bankruptcy, cheered its shell-shocked shareholders on Wednesday when it announced that its statutory capital remained well above the minimum set by regulators.
Ambac shares plunge on fears
Shares of US bond insurer Ambac Financial sank 33% on Tuesday after the company warned it may be forced to seek bankruptcy protection if it cannot fix its liquidity problems, reports Reuters. Ambac said it may pursue strategies including “a negotiated restructuring of its debt through a prepackaged bankruptcy proceeding”
Ambac warns of bankruptcy risk
The train wreck that is the bond insurance industry always provides interesting headlines. MBIA, once the sector’s leading light, on Monday reported a $728m loss for the third quarter of 2009. Ambac, its long-time rival,
Weekend catch-up
In case you missed these stories
- AIG reports first quarterly profit since 2007
AIG reported its first profit in seven quarters on Friday, helped by large accounting gains, in a partial reversal of the huge mark-to-market losses that led to the rescue of the stricken insurer.
Ambac clings to life (updated)
RBS analyst Tom Jenkins described Ambac as being “on life support” in a note on Tuesday; FT Alphaville tends to agree.
The bond insurer (remember those?) said on Monday that it expected to report that its statutory losses on credit derivatives (read:
Moody’s and the monolines
More monoline difficulty:
New York, July 14, 2009 — Moody’s Investors Service is modifying the rating methodology it applies to structured finance securities insured by financial guarantors. Specifically,
Takefuji in Ambac talks after downgrade
Takefuji has entered talks with bond insurance group Ambac after S&P downgraded its credit rating to junk, triggering possible early redemption of Y109bn worth of the Japanese consumer finance group’s asset-backed securities.
Ambac to file against banks
Ambac, the bond insurer whose finances have been hit by guarantees on billions of dollars of securities linked to risky mortgages, expects to file more lawsuits against banks that acted as underwriters and managers of these securities.
The travails of the financial guarantors
There’s been a slew of (mostly negative) ratings actions on the financial guaranty sector – the bond insurers, mortgage insurers and the like – recently. Here’s a recap.
Subsequent to a warning from FGIC’s auditor that there is substantial doubt over the bond insurer’s ability to “continue as a going concern,”
Ambac sees $2.3bn quarterly loss
Ambac Financial, the second largest US bond insurer, on Wednesday revealed a $2.3bn Q4 loss as it took further charges on exposure to troubled mortgages. The group, which last year lost its triple A credit ratings after big losses on mortgage-linked securities,
The death throes of the bond insurers
Ambac’s share price hit an all-time low on Wednesday, falling below $1 a share for the first time in the company’s history as a public company.
Why? A rather savage downgrade from S&P, which cut the bond insurer’s financial strength rating to A from AA,
Moody’s cuts Ambac to Baa1
Baa1 – same rating it gave to Bear Stearns back in March. The bonfire of the bond insurers continues apace.
From the Moody’s statement, emphasis ours:
Today’s rating action concludes a review for possible downgrade that was initiated on September 18,
CDS update: Euphoria fades
A fresh batch of disappointing data in Europe and poor results from two major US financial guarantors weighed on sentiment in the market for credit default swaps on Wednesday, sending spreads wider on both sides of the Atlantic.
Ambac, bond insurers, turn to US Treasury
Ambac Financial Group and other US bond insurers are working on a plan to submit to the US Treasury that would enable them to sell troubled assets to the government, said Ambac’s CEO Michael Callen, reports Bloomberg.
Paterson sets his sights on Spitzer’s title
No, not Client 9 – we’re talking Sheriff of Wall Street here.
Governor David Paterson, who succeeded Eliot Spitzer in March, has decided to regulate a portion of the “market for short selling bonds”
Ambac, MBIA paths diverge
Time was when a statement from one of the big two bond insurers would induce a market panic. This is no longer true, but there’s still a lot happening at MBIA and Ambac – not least Moody’s threatening to downgrade them yet again.