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Long-Term Incentive Compensation | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2014
Long-Term Incentive Compensation [Abstract] |
Long-Term Incentive Compensation | LONG-TERM INCENTIVE COMPENSATION Employees, directors and consultants of Ambac are eligible to participate in Ambac’s 2013 Incentive Compensation Plan (“2013 Plan”) subject to the discretion of the compensation committee of Ambac’s Board of Directors. The 2013 Plan provides for incentives and rewards that are valued or determined by reference to Ambac common stock as traded on the NASDAQ exchange. There are 4,000,000 shares of Ambac’s common stock authorized for awards under the 2013 Plan of which 3,649,958 shares are available for future grant as of September 30, 2014. In May 2014, Ambac developed a long term incentive compensation plan (“LTIP”) as a sub-plan of the 2013 Plan. The LTIP, approved by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors, is a significant component of management’s compensation program that is intended to strike an appropriate balance between short-term compensation and longer-term incentives aimed at fostering retention and aligning management's interest with those of Ambac's stakeholders. Awards granted under the LTIP are designed to further the financial and operational objectives of both Ambac and Ambac Assurance. The LTIP is intended to be an annual program. In May 2014, performance awards were granted under the LTIP to certain members of management. The performance awards were granted to such members of management in proportion to their respective responsibilities and impact on each company's performance as determined by the compensation committee of the Board of Directors of Ambac and Ambac Assurance. These grants vest in 3 years and are evenly split between restricted stock units ("RSUs") and cash. Award values will be based on the performance at both Ambac and Ambac Assurance, but generally no awards will be granted unless a minimum performance threshold is met by Ambac Assurance. These awards can payout 0% to 200% of the initial target grant amount of $2,920, inclusive of 49,041 performance based RSUs. Ambac performance will be evaluated relative to cumulative earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization over the vesting period (exclusive of Ambac Assurance earnings), which is intended to reward participants on generating taxable income from new business development. Over the same period, Ambac Assurance performance will be evaluated according to changes in a ratio of Ambac Assurance's assets to its insurance and financial obligations, which is intended to reward participants for increases in the relative value of Ambac Assurance.

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- Definition Tabular disclosure of an equity-based arrangement (such as stock or unit options and stock or unit awards) with an individual employee, which is generally an employment contract between the entity and a selected officer or key employee containing a promise by the employer to pay certain equity-based awards at future dates, sometimes including a period after retirement, upon compliance with stipulated requirements. This type of arrangement is distinguished from broader based employee benefit plans as it is usually tailored to the employee. Disclosure also typically includes the amount of related compensation expense recognized during the reporting period, the number of shares or units issued during the period under such arrangements, and the carrying amount as of the balance sheet date of the related liability. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 718 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6415400&loc=d3e5047-113901 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 718 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6415400&loc=d3e5070-113901 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 710 -SubTopic 10 -Section 30 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6409875&loc=d3e20015-108363 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 710 -SubTopic 10 -Section 55 -Paragraph 7 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6409961&loc=d3e20487-108367 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 710 -SubTopic 10 -Section 55 -Paragraph 8 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6409961&loc=d3e20517-108367 + Details
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