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Insurance Regulatory Restrictions | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2012
Insurance Regulatory Restrictions |
6. | INSURANCE REGULATORY RESTRICTIONS
United States: Ambac Assurance (exclusive of the Segregated Account which is under the control of OCI via the Segregated Account Rehabilitation Plan) and Everspan are subject to the insurance laws and regulations of each jurisdiction in which it is licensed, some of which are described below. Failure to comply with applicable insurance laws and regulations (including, without limitation, minimum surplus requirements, aggregate risk limits and single risk limits) could expose Ambac Assurance or Everspan to fines, the loss or suspension of insurance licenses in certain jurisdictions, the imposition of orders by regulators with respect to the conduct of business by Ambac Assurance or Everspan and/or the inability to pay dividends, all of which could have an adverse impact on our business results and prospects. New York’s comprehensive financial guarantee insurance law defines the scope of permitted financial guarantee insurance and governs the conduct of business of all financial guarantors licensed to do business in New York, including Ambac Assurance. The New York financial guarantee insurance law also establishes single risk and aggregate limits with respect to obligations insured by financial guarantee insurers. Such single risk limits are specific to the type of insured obligation (for example, municipal or asset-backed). Under the aggregate limits, policyholders’ surplus and contingency reserves must at least equal a percentage of aggregate net financial guarantee liability that is equal to the sum of various percentages of aggregate net liability for various categories of specified obligations. Wisconsin laws and regulations applicable to financial guarantors, as well as the laws of several other states, are less comprehensive than New York law and relate primarily to single and aggregate risk limits. As a result of decreased statutory capital resulting from the significant losses experienced by Ambac Assurance, Ambac Assurance is not in compliance with its regulatory single and aggregate risk limits. Through run-off of the portfolio, Ambac Assurance will seek to reduce its exposure to no more than the permitted amounts, but may not be able to do so. Everspan is in compliance with all of such limits. Ambac Assurance’s ability to pay dividends is generally restricted by law and subject to approval by OCI. Wisconsin insurance law restricts the payment of dividends in any 12-month period without regulatory approval to the lesser of (a) 10% of policyholders’ surplus as of the preceding December 31, and (b) the greater of (i) statutory net income (loss) for the calendar year preceding the date of dividend, minus realized capital gains for that calendar year or (ii) the aggregate of statutory net income (loss) for three calendar years preceding the date of the dividend, minus realized capital gains for those calendar years and minus dividends paid or credited within the first two of the three preceding calendar years. In connection with the termination of reinsurance contracts, OCI requires adjustments to the dividend calculation for any surplus or net income gains recognized. Additionally, no quarterly dividend may exceed the dividend paid in the corresponding quarter of the preceding year by more than 15% without notifying OCI 30 days in advance of payment. Based upon these restrictions, at December 31, 2012, Ambac Assurance will not be able to pay common stock dividends during 2013 without regulatory approval. Ambac Assurance did not pay cash dividends on its common stock in 2012 or 2011. Ambac Assurance’s statutory financial statements are prepared on the basis of accounting practices prescribed or permitted by OCI. OCI recognizes only statutory accounting practices prescribed or permitted by the State of Wisconsin for determining and reporting the financial condition and results of operations of an insurance company for determining its solvency under Wisconsin Insurance Law. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) Accounting Practices and Procedures manual (“NAIC SAP”) has been adopted as a component of prescribed practices by the State of Wisconsin. Ambac Assurance’s statutory policyholder surplus and qualified statutory capital were $100,000 and $628,302 at December 31, 2012, respectively as compared to $495,293 and $684,610 as of December 31, 2011, respectively. The Segregated Account reported statutory policyholder surplus of $(61,812) and $105,899 as of December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. At December 31, 2012, Ambac Assurance’s surplus as regards to policyholders is at the Minimum Surplus Amount and therefore $163,687 of the Segregated Account’s insurance liabilities were not assumed by Ambac Assurance under the Reinsurance Agreement. In the event that Ambac Assurance does not generate future surplus in the amount of insurance liabilities not assumed under the Reinsurance Agreement because of the applicability of the Minimum Surplus Amount, the Segregated Account would experience a shortfall in funds available to pay its liabilities to the extent that such liabilities exceed amounts available under the Secured Note and Reinsurance Agreement. This shortfall will be a consideration for the Rehabilitator in the determination of whether any changes to the Segregated Account Rehabilitation Plan and/or the amount of partial policy claim payments are necessary or appropriate or whether to institute general rehabilitation proceedings against Ambac Assurance. Statutory capital and surplus differs from stockholders’ equity determined under GAAP principally due to statutory accounting rules that treat loss reserves, consolidation of subsidiaries, premiums earned, policy acquisition costs and deferred income taxes differently. OCI has prescribed an accounting practice that differs from NAIC SAP. Paragraph 7 of Statement of Statutory Accounting Principles No. 60 “Financial Guaranty Insurance” (“SSAP 60”) allows for a deduction from loss reserves for the time value of money by application of a discount rate equal to the average rate of return on the admitted assets of the financial guaranty insurer as of the date of the computation of the reserve. The discount rate shall be adjusted at the end of each calendar year. Additionally, in accordance with paragraph 7 of Statutory Accounting Principles No. 5 “Liabilities, Contingencies and Impairments of Assets,” Ambac Assurance records probable losses on its subsidiaries credit derivative contracts, using a discount rate equal to the average rate of return on its admitted assets. The Company’s average rates of return on its admitted assets at December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011 were 8.01% and 7.45%, respectively. OCI has directed the Company to utilize a prescribed discount rate of 5.10% for the purpose of discounting both its loss reserves and its estimated impairment losses on subsidiary guarantees. Statutory surplus at December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011 was lower by $117,602 and $98,225, respectively, than if the Company had reported such amounts in accordance with NAIC SAP. OCI has prescribed an additional accounting practice that differs from NAIC SAP. Paragraph 4 of Statement of Statutory Accounting Principles No. 41 “Surplus Notes” (“SSAP 41”) states that proceeds received by the issuer of surplus notes must be in the form of cash or other admitted assets having readily determinable values and liquidity satisfactory to the commissioner of the state of domicile. Under the statutory accounting principles as generally applied, surplus notes issued in conjunction with commutations or the settlement of claims would be valued at zero upon issuance pursuant to paragraph 4, SSAP 41. OCI has directed the Company to record surplus notes issued in connection with commutations or the settlement of claims at full par value upon issuance as in these instances the surplus notes do not represent a contribution of capital. The surplus notes issued in connection with commutations or settlement of claims has a claim against surplus senior to the preferred and common shareholders. Statutory surplus is not impacted as a result of the prescribed practice as it is a reclassification from unassigned funds to surplus notes. OCI has extended the preceding prescribed practice related to surplus notes to the evaluation of other-than-temporary impairments for Ambac Assurance guaranteed securities held in the investment portfolio. Paragraph 35 of Statement of Statutory Accounting Principles No. 43R “Loan-backed and Structured Securities” states that when an other-than-temporary impairment has occurred, the amount of the other-than-temporary impairment recognized as a realized loss shall equal the difference between the investment’s amortized cost basis and the present value of cash flows expected to be collected, discounted at the loan-backed or structured security’s effective interest rate. Under NAIC SAP, the present value of cash flows expected to be collected should include the fair value of surplus notes received from Ambac Assurance, as required under the confirmed Segregated Account Rehabilitation Plan. OCI has prescribed an accounting practice that differs from NAIC SAP and has directed the Company to utilize par value rather than fair value of these surplus notes in this computation. Statutory surplus at December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011 is greater by $35,761 and $84,344, respectively, than if the present value of the cash flows expected to be collected included the surplus notes at fair value in accordance with NAIC SAP. Wisconsin accounting practices for changes to contingency reserves differ from NAIC SAP. Under NAIC SAP, contributions to and releases from the contingency reserve are recorded via a direct charge or credit to surplus. Under the Wisconsin Administrative Code, contributions to and releases from the contingency reserve are to be recorded through underwriting income. The Company received permission from OCI to record contributions to and releases from the contingency reserve and the related tax and loss bond impact, in accordance with NAIC SAP. Statutory surplus is the same using each of these accounting practices. The Company received permission from OCI to report investment holdings of Ambac Assurance insured securities, with coverage under financial guaranty policies that have been allocated to the Segregated Account, as a separate invested asset on the balance sheet rather than combined with other bond investments. This permitted practice only impacts the balance sheet line items discussed above and has no impact on the valuation of the securities to which it applies or to Statutory surplus. United Kingdom The Financial Services Authority (“FSA”) has exercised significant oversight of Ambac UK since 2008, when Ambac and Ambac Assurance began experiencing financial stress. In 2009, Ambac UK’s license to do new business was curtailed by the FSA and the insurance license was limited to undertaking only run-off related activity. As such, Ambac UK is authorized to run-off its credit, suretyship and financial guarantee insurance portfolio in the United Kingdom, and to do the same through a branch in Milan, Italy, and a number of other European Union (“EU”) countries. EU legislation has allowed Ambac UK to conduct business in EU states other than the United Kingdom through a “passporting” arrangement, which eliminates the necessity of additional licensing or authorization in those other EU jurisdictions. The FSA is the single statutory regulator responsible for regulating the financial services industry in the United Kingdom, with the purpose of maintaining confidence in the U.K. financial system, providing public understanding of the system, securing the proper degree of protection for consumers and helping to reduce financial crime. In addition, the regulatory regime in the United Kingdom must comply with certain EU legislation binding on all EU member states. From April 1, 2013, the FSA is being reorganized into the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) and the Prudential Regulatory Authority (“PRA”). Ambac UK will be subject to dual regulation by both the FCA and PRA. No material impact is anticipated with respect to Ambac UK since it is being closely supervised as a run-off entity. The FSA requires that non-life insurance companies such as Ambac UK maintain a margin of solvency at all times in respect of the liabilities of the insurance company, the calculation of which depends on the type and amount of insurance business a company writes. In addition, the FSA had established a capital monitoring level for Ambac UK related to its insured portfolio. Breach of the monitoring level required that Ambac UK inform the FSA and enter into discussions as to the reasons for the breach, and ultimately with a view to a remedy that could include additional capital being required. In addition, an insurer is required to perform and submit to the FSA a solvency margin calculation return in respect of its ultimate parent.

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- Definition Provides a description of insurance regulatory restrictions imposed by state or sovereign insurance regulators. + References No definition available. + Details
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