XML 164 R88.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v2.4.0.8

Fair Value Measurements - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified | 1 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended
--- | --- | ---
Apr. 30, 2013 | Dec. 31, 2013 | Dec. 31, 2012
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items] |  |  |
Credit valuation adjustment included in fair value of credit derivative liabilities |  | $ 38,966 | $ 261,203
Credit valuation adjustment included in fair value of derivative liabilities other than credit derivatives |  | 48,425 | 121,928
Percentage of CDS gross par outstanding used in the determination of CDS fair values |  | 79.00% |
Percentage of CDS derivative liability used in the determination of CDS fair values |  | 70.00% |
Percentage of CDS gross par outstanding using internally estimated reference obligation prices in determination of fair value |  | 21.00% |
Percentage of CDS liability using internally estimated reference obligation prices in determination of fair value |  | 30.00% |
Additional basis point fee need to receive for issuing a CDS on obligation |  | 0.05% |
Additional basis points fee increase on change of reference obligation spread |  | 0.15% |
Revised relative change ratio of CDS fee to cash market spread |  | 73.20% |
Estimated remaining life |  | 8 years |
Notional outstanding |  | 2,776,103 | 11,281,777
Derivative liabilities |  | 94,322 | 213,585
Percentage of profit margin | 17.00% | 17.00% | 20.00%
Weighted average discounted rate of estimated future premium payments to be paid by the VIEs |  | 5.10% | 7.60%
Minimum [Member] |  |  |
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items] |  |  |
Basis point fee received for issuing a CDS on reference obligation base fee |  | 0.20% |
Credit spread of reference obligation of a base transaction |  | 0.80% |
Relative change ratio of CDS fee to cash market spread |  | 25.00% |
Maximum [Member] |  |  |
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items] |  |  |
Basis point fee received for issuing a CDS on reference obligation hypothetical fee |  | 0.25% |
Relative change ratio of CDS fee to cash market spread |  | 35.00% |
Credit spread of reference obligation of revised transaction |  | 1.00% |
Corporate Obligations [Member] | Level 3 [Member] |  |  |
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items] |  |  |
Fair value of investments in corporate obligation securities classified as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy |  | 3,502 | 3,656
U.S. Agency Obligations [Member] | Level 3 [Member] |  |  |
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items] |  |  |
Fair value of investments in corporate obligation securities classified as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy |  | 208 | 0
Other Commercial Asset-Backed [Member] | Level 3 [Member] |  |  |
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items] |  |  |
Fair value of investments in corporate obligation securities classified as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy |  | 64,073 | 50,264
Fixed Income Securities [Member] |  |  |
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items] |  |  |
Percentage of investment portfolio valued using dealer quotes |  | 11.00% | 10.00%
Fixed Income Securities [Member] | Minimum [Member] |  |  |
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items] |  |  |
Percentage of investment portfolio valued using internal valuation models |  | 1.00% | 1.00%
Fixed Income Securities [Member] | Maximum [Member] |  |  |
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items] |  |  |
Percentage of investment portfolio valued using external pricing services |  | 88.00% | 89.00%
Collateralized Debt Obligations [Member] | Level 3 [Member] |  |  |
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items] |  |  |
Fair value of investments in corporate obligation securities classified as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy |  | 0 | 6,482
European ABS Transactions [Member] | Level 3 [Member] |  |  |
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items] |  |  |
Fair value of consolidated VIE debt obligations valued using unobservable inputs by asset class |  | 1,329,985 | 2,956,501
US Commercial ABS Transaction [Member] | Level 3 [Member] |  |  |
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items] |  |  |
Fair value of consolidated VIE debt obligations valued using unobservable inputs by asset class |  | $ 184,620 |
Credit Derivatives [Member] |  |  |
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items] |  |  |
CVA percentage |  | 29.20% | 55.00%
Internal Credit Rating [Member] | Minimum [Member] |  |  |
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items] |  |  |
Revised relative change ratio of CDS fee to cash market spread |  | 33.00% |
Internal Credit Rating [Member] | Maximum [Member] |  |  |
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items] |  |  |
Full relative change ratio of CDS fee to cash market spread |  | 100.00% |

X
- Definition Amount of credit risk valuation adjustment to derivative liabilities other than credit derivatives, to properly reflect the credit quality of the entity. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_DerivativesCreditRiskValuationAdjustmentDerivativeLiabilitiesOtherThanCreditDerivatives
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Weighted average discounted rate of estimated future premium payments to be paid by the VIEs. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_EstimatedFuturePremiumPaymentsWeightedAverageDiscountedRate
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Hypothetical base fee received on a credit derivative contract used in the description of the valuation processes in place for fair value measurement of credit derivatives. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_FairValueMeasurementProcessDescriptionForCreditDerivativesBaseFee
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Hypothetical base reference obligation spread used in the description of the valuation processes in place for fair value measurement of credit derivatives. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_FairValueMeasurementProcessDescriptionForCreditDerivativesBaseReferenceObligationSpread
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Hypothetical base relative change ratio for a credit derivative contract used in the description of the valuation processes in place for fair value measurement of credit derivatives. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_FairValueMeasurementProcessDescriptionForCreditDerivativesBaseRelativeChangeRatio
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Full relative change ratio comparable to certain default used in the description of the valuation processes in place for fair value measurement of credit derivative. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_FairValueMeasurementProcessDescriptionForCreditDerivativesFullRelativeChangeRatio
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Hypothetical incremental credit derivative fee used in the description of the valuation processes in place for fair value measurement of credit derivatives. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_FairValueMeasurementProcessDescriptionForCreditDerivativesHypotheticalIncrementalFee
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Hypothetical incremental credit derivative fee given a certain credit downgrade used in the description of the valuation processes in place for fair value measurement of credit derivative. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_FairValueMeasurementProcessDescriptionForCreditDerivativesHypotheticalIncrementalFeeWithCreditDeterioration
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Hypothetical remaining contract life used in the description of the valuation processes in place for fair value measurement of credit derivatives. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_FairValueMeasurementProcessDescriptionForCreditDerivativesRemainingLife
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Hypothetical revised fee required on credit derivative contract used in the description of the valuation processes in place for fair value measurement of credit derivatives. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_FairValueMeasurementProcessDescriptionForCreditDerivativesRevisedHypotheticalFee
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Hypothetical revised fee required on credit derivative given a certain credit downgrade used in the description of the valuation processes in place for fair value measurement of credit derivatives. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_FairValueMeasurementProcessDescriptionForCreditDerivativesRevisedHypotheticalFeeWithCreditDownGrade
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Hypothetical revised reference obligation spread (second example) used in the description of the valuation processes in place for fair value measurement of credit derivatives. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_FairValueMeasurementProcessDescriptionForCreditDerivativesRevisedHypotheticalReferenceObligationSpreadTwo
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Hypothetical revised relative change ratio used in the description of the valuation processes in place for fair value measurement of credit derivatives. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_FairValueMeasurementProcessDescriptionForCreditDerivativesRevisedRelativeChangeRatio
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Fair Value of consolidated VIE debt obligations valued using unobservable inputs by asset class + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_FairValueOfConsolidatedVariableInterestEntityDebtObligationsValuedUsingUnobservableInputsByAssetClass
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Fair value of investments in securities valued using unobservable inputs by asset class. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_FairValueOfInvestmentsInSecuritiesValuedUsingUnobservableInputsByAssetClass
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Percentage of credit derivative gross par outstanding using internally estimated reference obligation prices in determination of fair value. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_PercentageOfCreditDerivativeGrossParOutstandingUsingInternallyEstimatedReferenceObligationPricesInDeterminationOfFairValue
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Percentage of credit derivative liability using internally estimated reference obligation prices in determination of fair value. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_PercentageOfCreditDerivativeLiabilityUsingInternallyEstimatedReferenceObligationPricesInDeterminationOfFairValue
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Percentage of credit derivatives gross par outstanding using third party reference obligation quotes in determination of fair value. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_PercentageOfCreditDerivativesGrossParOutstandingUsingThirdPartyReferenceObligationQuotesInDeterminationOfFairValue
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Percentage of credit derivatives liability using third party reference obligation quotes ion determination of fair value. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_PercentageOfCreditDerivativesLiabilityUsingThirdPartyReferenceObligationQuotesInDeterminationOfFairValue
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Credit valuation adjustment (CVA) as a percentage of the credit derivative liability calculated excluding the CVA. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_PercentageOfCreditValueAdjustment
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Investment portfolio valued using dealer quotes. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_PercentageOfInvestmentPortfolioValuedUsingDealerQuotes
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Percentage of investment portfolio valued using external pricing services. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_PercentageOfInvestmentPortfolioValuedUsingExternalPricingServices
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Percentage of investment portfolio valued using internal valuation models. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ambc_PercentageOfInvestmentPortfolioValuedUsingInternalValuationModels
Namespace Prefix: | ambc_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Aggregate notional amount specified by the derivative(s). Expressed as an absolute value. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Article 12 -Section 13 -Sentence Column B + Details
Name: | invest_DerivativeNotionalAmount
Namespace Prefix: | invest_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Amount of credit risk valuation adjustment to derivative liabilities to properly reflect the credit quality of the entity. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_DerivativeCreditRiskValuationAdjustmentDerivativeLiabilities
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Fair value before effects of master netting arrangements, of a financial liability or contract with one or more underlyings, notional amount or payment provision or both, and the contract can be net settled by means outside the contract or delivery of an asset. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 20 -Section 55 -Paragraph 7 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=28370219&loc=SL20226000-175313 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -Subparagraph (a) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=20225523&loc=SL20225862-175312 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 815 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4B -Subparagraph (a),(c) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=7476318&loc=SL5624163-113959 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_DerivativeFairValueOfDerivativeLiability
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | instant

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_FairValueAssetsAndLiabilitiesMeasuredOnRecurringAndNonrecurringBasisLineItems
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Ratio of an entity's operating income net of tax to its revenue, used as an input to measure fair value. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 820 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -Subparagraph (bbb) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=25499696&loc=d3e19207-110258 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_FairValueInputsLongTermNetOfTaxOperatingIncomeMarginPercent
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration