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Municipal Bond Guarantee | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2017
Guarantees [Abstract] |
Municipal Bond Guarantee Insurance | Municipal Bond Guarantee Insurance In 2012, HG Global was capitalized with $594.5 million from White Mountains and $14.5 million from non-controlling interests to fund BAM, a newly formed mutual municipal bond insurer. As of September 30, 2017, White Mountains owned 96.9% of HG Global’s preferred equity and 88.4% of its common equity. HG Global, together with its subsidiaries, provided the initial capitalization of BAM through the purchase of $503.0 million of BAM Surplus Notes. Through HG Re, HG Global provides first loss reinsurance protection for policies underwritten by BAM of up to 15% of par outstanding, on a per policy basis. HG Re’s obligations to BAM are collateralized in trusts, and there is an aggregate loss limit that is equal to the total assets in the collateral trusts at any point in time. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, HG Global had pre-tax income of $7.0 million and $20.3 million, which included $4.8 million and $14.3 million of interest income on the BAM Surplus Notes. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, HG Global had pre-tax income of $5.2 million and $18.4 million, which included $4.5 million and $13.4 million of interest income on the BAM Surplus Notes. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, White Mountains reported pre-tax losses of $11.9 million and $35.6 million on BAM that were recorded in net loss attributable to non-controlling interests, which included $4.8 million and $14.3 million of interest expense on the BAM Surplus Notes. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016, White Mountains reported pre-tax losses of $13.7 million and $30.3 million on BAM that were recorded in net loss attributable to non-controlling interests, which included $4.5 million and $13.4 million of interest expense on the BAM Surplus Notes. Effective January 1, 2014, HG Global and BAM agreed to change the interest rate on the BAM Surplus Notes for the five years ending December 31, 2018 from a fixed rate of 8.0% to a variable rate equal to the one-year U.S. treasury rate plus 300 basis points, set annually, which is 3.54% and 3.78% for 2016 and 2017. Prior to the end of 2018, BAM has the option to extend the variable rate period for an additional three years. At the end of the variable rate period, the interest rate will be fixed at the higher of the then current variable rate or 8.0%. No payment of interest or principal on the BAM Surplus Notes may be made without the approval of the New York State Department of Financial Services. BAM has stated its intention to seek regulatory approval to pay interest and principal on its surplus notes only to the extent that (1) its remaining qualified statutory capital (“QSC”) exceeds $500 million and (2) its remaining QSC and other capital resources continue to support its outstanding obligations, business plan and its AA stable rating from S&P. During the second quarter of 2017, in order to further support BAM’s long-term capital position and business prospects, HG Global agreed to contribute the $203.0 million Series A BAM Surplus Notes (“Series A Notes”) into the supplemental collateral trust (the “Supplemental Trust”) at HG Re, HG Global’s wholly owned reinsurance subsidiary. The Supplemental Trust already holds the $300.0 million Series B BAM Surplus Notes (“Series B Notes” and, collectively with the Series A Notes, the “BAM Surplus Notes”). Assets held in the Supplemental Trust serve to collateralize HG Re’s obligations to BAM under the first loss reinsurance treaty between BAM and HG Re. HG Global and BAM also agreed to change the payment terms of the Series B Notes, so that payments will reduce principal and accrued interest on a pro rata basis, consistent with the payment terms on the Series A Notes. The terms of the Series B Notes had previously stipulated that payments would first reduce interest owed, then reduce principal owed once all accrued interest had been paid. The New York Department of Financial Services approved the change during the third quarter of 2017. During the second quarter of 2017, HG Global and BAM also made certain changes to the ceding commission arrangements under the reinsurance treaty between HG Re and BAM. These changes will accelerate growth in BAM’s statutory capital but will not impact the net risk premium ceded from BAM to HG Re. Under GAAP, if the terms of a debt instrument are amended, unless there is a greater than 10% change in the expected discounted future cash flows of such instrument, a change in the instrument’s carrying value is not permitted. White Mountains has determined that the impact of the changes made in the second quarter of 2017 to the terms of the BAM Surplus Notes on the expected discounted future cash flows is not greater than 10%. All of the contracts issued by BAM are accounted for as insurance contracts under ASC 944-605, Financial Guarantee Insurance Contracts. Premiums are received upfront and an unearned premium revenue liability, equal to the amount of the cash received, is established at contract inception. Premium revenues are recognized in revenue over the period of the contracts in proportion to the amount of insurance protection provided using a constant rate. The constant rate is calculated based on the relationship between the par outstanding in a given reporting period compared with the sum of each of the par amounts outstanding for all periods. The following table provides a schedule of BAM’s insured obligations:
|  | September 30, 2017 |  | December 31, 2016
Contracts outstanding |  | 5,907 |  |  | 4,807 |
Remaining weighted average contract period outstanding (in years) |  | 10.9 |  |  | 10.8 |
Contractual debt service outstanding (in millions): |  |  |  |
Principal |  | $ | 39,207.5 |  |  | $ | 33,057.3 |
Interest |  | 19,681.0 |  |  | 16,396.6 |
Total debt service outstanding |  | $ | 58,888.5 |  |  | $ | 49,453.9 |
Gross unearned insurance premiums |  | $ | 118.5 |  |  | $ | 82.9 |
The following table is a schedule of BAM’s future premium revenues as of September 30, 2017:
Millions |  | September 30, 2017
October 1, 2017 - December 31, 2017 |  | $ | 2.5 |
January 1, 2018 - March 31, 2018 |  | 2.5 |
April 1, 2018 - June 30, 2018 |  | 2.5 |
July 1, 2018 - September 30, 2018 |  | 2.5 |
October 1, 2018 - December 31, 2018 |  | 2.4 |
|  | 9.9 |
2019 |  | 9.5 |
2020 |  | 9.2 |
2021 |  | 8.7 |
2022 and thereafter |  | 78.7 |
Total gross unearned insurance premiums |  | $ | 118.5 |

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- Definition The entire disclosure for financial guarantee insurance contracts (as defined) issued by the entity. Such disclosure is intended to enable users of the financial information to understand the factors affecting the present and future recognition and measurement of the entity's financial guarantee insurance contracts. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 944 -SubTopic 605 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6933581&loc=SL5749298-161291 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 944 -SubTopic 40 -Section 50 -Paragraph 9 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6933314&loc=SL5749324-161292 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 944 -SubTopic 310 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6933075&loc=SL5748726-161290 + Details
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