HAMILTON, Bermuda--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) (together with its subsidiaries, Assured Guaranty), the leading financial guaranty insurance company, has begun further expansion of its footprint in continental Europe by issuing new financial guarantees through its French subsidiary, Assured Guaranty (Europe) SA (AGE). AGE is rated AA+ by Kroll Bond Rating Agency and AA by S&P Global Ratings, both with stable outlooks.

Additionally, Assured Guaranty’s UK financial guarantee subsidiary has been renamed Assured Guaranty UK Limited (AGUK) from Assured Guaranty (Europe) plc to reflect the shift of European operations to AGE. AGUK will continue executing Assured Guaranty’s business in the United Kingdom and internationally.

AGE was established in Paris in mid-2019 to prepare for the impact of Brexit on AGUK. AGUK had previously been the entity writing Assured Guaranty’s business in Europe. Whilst Brexit served as a catalyst, Assured Guaranty was already considering having an operational presence in Paris, consistent with the company’s objective to further develop its business in Europe.

“We were seeing increasing demand for our product in the European market and, regardless of Brexit, believed that establishing a new subsidiary in continental Europe would help us to pursue new business in that market,” said Nick Proud, Assured Guaranty’s Senior Managing Director for International Infrastructure and Global Structured Finance. “With AGE becoming the primary platform for Assured Guaranty’s European operations, changing the UK subsidiary’s name to Assured Guaranty UK Limited was a natural step to reflect its headquarters in London and to differentiate the companies going forward.”

In 2020, AGUK transferred 79 financial guaranty policies to AGE, representing approximately €6.1 billion of par exposure, which consisted almost exclusively of policies relating to risks in the infrastructure, energy and public debt sectors.

To date, AGE has been active in the primary and secondary markets. In the primary market, AGE has closed three new Spanish solar transactions with an aggregate original insured par amount of €972 million.

Raphaël de Tapol, Deputy Managing Director of AGE, said, “Having already guaranteed almost €1 billion of new bonds and established our base in Paris, we look forward to working with issuers on solutions to reduce their financing costs and to providing high-quality, long-term credit protection for the beneficiaries of our financial guarantees in Europe. Our primary focus will continue to be Europe’s infrastructure and structured finance markets. Finding opportunities to use our capabilities in these areas for the benefit of our clients is a key part of Assured Guaranty’s strategy going forward.” AGE recently moved to new headquarters located at 71 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré 75008, Paris, France.

AGUK and AGE guarantee timely payment of scheduled principal and interest to creditors such as banks or investors in bonds and other types of investment-grade financings. These guarantees, or “wraps,” generally raise the credit rating of the underlying debt instrument and may allow issuers to borrow at lower interest rates. The guarantees may remain in force for as long as 30 years, and longer in some cases. Assured Guaranty believes that financial guarantees may make the wrapped debt attractive for institutional investors, such as insurance companies, that want to hold long-term assets that are well matched to their long-term liabilities. Assured Guaranty’s products may also help banks seeking credit protection for a range of asset classes as a means for them to optimise the capital associated with their portfolios.

Assured Guaranty’s financial guarantee subsidiaries have a combined $11 billion in claims-paying resources* and strong liquidity provided by $10 billion of investable assets. The company has provided financial guarantees for more than three decades in developed countries of Europe, the Americas and Asia.

*Aggregate data for insurance companies within the Assured Guaranty Ltd. (AGL) group. Claims on each insurance subsidiary’s guarantees are paid from that subsidiary’s separate claims-paying resources. Details in the latest AGL Financial Supplement at assuredguaranty.com/AGLdata.

AGE is a joint stock company governed by the Insurance Code, with capital of €110.900.000 registered in the Paris Trade and Companies Register under number 852 597 384, whose registered office is located at 71, rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré - 75008 Paris, France.

AGUK is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

Any forward-looking statements made in this press release reflect AGL’s current views with respect to future events and are made pursuant to the safe harbour 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 this press release. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those resulting from the inability of AGE and AGUK to execute their strategies, including AGE’s planned expansion in Europe; the demand for their financial guarantees; adverse developments in the guaranteed or investment portfolios of AGE, AGUK or their affiliated co-insurers and reinsurers; actions that the rating agencies may take with respect to the financial strength ratings of AGE and AGUK or their affiliated co-insurers or reinsurers; changes in the world’s credit markets, segments thereof, interest rates, credit spreads or general economic conditions; the development, course and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and the governmental and private actions taken in response, and the global consequences of the pandemic and such actions; and other risks and uncertainties that have not been identified at this time, management’s response to these factors, and other risk factors identified in AGL’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are made as of 18 March 2021. 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.