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Variable Interest Entities | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2018
Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Variable Interest Entities | 3. VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES Ambac, with its subsidiaries, has engaged in transactions with variable interest entities ("VIEs") in various capacities.
• | Ambac most commonly provides financial guarantees, including credit derivative contracts, for various debt obligations issued by special purpose entities, including VIEs ("FG VIEs");
• | Ambac sponsors special purpose entities that issued notes to investors for various purposes; and
• | Ambac is an investor in collateralized debt obligations, mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities issued by VIEs and its ownership interest is generally insignificant to the VIE and/or Ambac does not have rights that direct the activities that are most significant to such VIE.
FG VIEs: Ambac’s subsidiaries provide financial guarantees in respect of assets held or debt obligations of VIEs. Ambac’s primary variable interest exists through this financial guarantee insurance or credit derivative contract. The transaction structures provide certain financial protection to Ambac. Generally, upon deterioration in the performance of a transaction or upon an event of default as specified in the transaction legal documents, Ambac will obtain certain control rights that enable Ambac to remediate losses. These rights may enable Ambac to direct the activities of the entity that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance.
• | We determined that Ambac’s subsidiaries generally have the obligation to absorb a FG VIE's expected losses given that they have issued financial guarantees supporting certain liabilities (and in some cases certain assets). As further described below, Ambac consolidated certain FG VIEs because we also had the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the VIE’s economic performance due to either: (i) the transaction experiencing deterioration and breaching performance triggers, giving Ambac the ability to exercise certain control rights or (ii) the transaction not experiencing deterioration, however due to the passive nature of the VIE, Ambac's contingent control rights upon a future breach of performance triggers is considered to be the power over the most significant activity. FG VIEs which are consolidated include recourse liabilities and, in some cases, may include non-recourse liabilities. FG VIEs' liabilities that are insured by the Company are with recourse, because the Company guarantees the payment of principal and interest to the extent there is a shortfall in the FG VIEs' assets. FG VIEs' liabilities that are not insured by the Company are without recourse, because the payment of principal and interest of these liabilities is wholly dependent on the performance of the FG VIEs' assets. The Company’s exposure to consolidated FG VIEs is limited to the financial guarantees issued for recourse liabilities and any additional variable interests held by Ambac.
• | A VIE is deconsolidated in the period that Ambac no longer has such control rights, which could occur in connection with the execution of remediation activities on the transaction or amortization of insured exposure, either of which may reduce the degree of Ambac’s control over a VIE.
• | Assets and liabilities of FG VIEs that are consolidated are reported within Variable interest entity assets or Variable interest entity liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.
• | Ambac has elected the fair value option for all FG VIE financial assets and financial liabilities which are consolidated. The total fair value changes in the financial assets of such FG VIEs are reported within Income (loss) on variable interest entities in the Consolidated Statements of Total Comprehensive Income (Loss). Prior to January 1, 2018, the total fair value changes in the financial liabilities of such FG VIEs were also reported within Income (loss) on variable interest entities. As further described in Note 2. Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies, effective January 1, 2018, Ambac adopted ASU 2016-01. Under this ASU, for financial liabilities where fair value option has been elected, the portion of the total change in fair value caused by changes in the instrument-specific credit risk is presented separately in Other comprehensive income (loss).
• | Upon initial consolidation of a FG VIE, we recognize a gain or loss in earnings for the difference between: (i) the fair value of the consideration paid, the fair value of any non-controlling interests and the reported amount of any previously held interests and (ii) the net amount, as measured on a fair value basis, of the assets and liabilities consolidated. Upon deconsolidation of a FG VIE, we recognize a gain or loss for the difference between: (i) the fair value of any consideration received, the fair value of any retained non-controlling investment in the VIE and the carrying amount of any non-controlling interest in the VIE and (ii) the carrying amount of the VIE’s assets and liabilities. Gains or losses from consolidation and deconsolidation that are reported in earnings are reported within Income (loss) on variable interest entities on the Consolidated Statements of Total Comprehensive Income (Loss).
• | The impact of consolidating such FG VIEs on Ambac’s balance sheet is the elimination of transactions between the consolidated FG VIEs and Ambac’s operating subsidiaries and the inclusion of the FG VIE’s third party assets and liabilities. For a financial guarantee insurance policy issued to a consolidated VIE, Ambac does not reflect the financial guarantee insurance policy in accordance with the related insurance accounting rules under the Financial Services – Insurance Topic of the ASC. Consequently, upon consolidation, Ambac eliminates the insurance assets and liabilities associated with the policy from the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Such insurance assets and liabilities may include premium receivables, reinsurance recoverable, deferred ceded premium, subrogation recoverable, unearned premiums, loss and loss expense reserves, ceded premiums payable and insurance intangible assets. For investment securities owned by Ambac that are debt instruments issued by the VIE, the investment securities balance is eliminated upon consolidation.
In connection with the exit from rehabilitation of the Segregated Account, as further described in Note 1. Background and Business Description, Ambac evaluated the consolidation of certain VIEs. Under the Stipulation and Order, the OCI retained the authority requiring Ambac Assurance to obtain their approval with respect to the exercise of certain control rights in connection with policies that had previously been allocated to the Segregated Account. Accordingly, Ambac did not consolidate any additional VIEs as a result of the Segregated Account's exit from rehabilitation. As of December 31, 2018 consolidated FG VIE assets and liabilities relating to 7 consolidated entities were $7,093,309 and $6,981,244, respectively. As of December 31, 2017, consolidated FG VIE assets and liabilities relating to 11 consolidated entities were $14,500,507 and $14,366,434, respectively. As of December 31, 2018, seven and zero consolidated FG VIEs related to transaction insured by Ambac UK and Ambac Assurance, respectively. As of December 31, 2017, and eight and three consolidated FG VIEs related to transaction insured by Ambac UK and Ambac Assurance, respectively. As of December 31, 2018, FG VIE assets and liabilities of $7,093,309 and $6,981,244, and as of December 31, 2017, FG VIE assets and liabilities of $14,160,152 and $14,026,704 related to transactions guaranteed by Ambac UK. The remaining balance of consolidated FG VIE assets and liabilities at December 31, 2017 are related to transactions guaranteed by Ambac Assurance. Ambac is not primarily liable for, and generally does not guarantee all of the debt obligations issued by the VIEs. Ambac would only be required to make payments on the VIE debt obligations in the event that the issuer of such debt obligations defaults on any principal or interest due and such obligation is guaranteed by Ambac. Additionally, Ambac’s general creditors, other than those specific policy holders which own the VIE debt obligations, do not have rights with regard to the assets of the VIEs. Ambac evaluates the net income effects and earnings per share effects to determine attributions between Ambac and non-controlling interests as a result of consolidating a VIE. Ambac has determined that the net income and earnings per share effect of these consolidated FG VIEs are attributable to Ambac’s interests through financial guarantee premium and loss payments with the VIE. Below is a schedule detailing the change in fair value of the various financial instruments within the consolidated FG VIEs, along with gains (losses) from consolidating and deconsolidating FG VIEs, that together comprise Income (loss) on variable interest entities for for the affected periods:
Year Ended December 31, |  | 2018 |  | 2017 |  | 2016
Income (loss) on changes related to: |  |  |  |  |  |
Net change in fair value of VIE assets and liabilities |  | $ | 2,782 |  |  | $ | 19,670 |  |  | $ | (14,093 | )
Less: Credit risk changes of fair value liabilities |  | (1,170 | ) |  | — |  |  | — |
Deconsolidation |  | 1,824 |  |  | — |  |  | — |
Income (loss) on Variable Interest Entities |  | $ | 3,436 |  |  | $ | 19,670 |  |  | $ | (14,093 | )
Ambac deconsolidated four, one and one VIEs for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. These VIEs were deconsolidated as a result of guaranteed bond retirements or loss mitigation activities that eliminated or reduced Ambac's control rights that previously required Ambac to consolidate these entities. During 2018, one deconsolidation was related to guaranteed bond retirement and three deconsolidations were due to loss mitigation activities and resulted in the gains on deconsolidation noted in the above table. The 2018 balance sheet impact of these deconsolidations were a decline to total consolidated assets and liabilities by $6,619,857 and $6,599,925 from December 31, 2017 to December 31, 2018. The deconsolidations occurring in 2017 and 2016 were related to guaranteed bond retirements which resulted in no gain or loss. The table below provides the fair value of fixed income securities, by asset-type, held by consolidated VIEs as of December 31, 2018 and 2017:
December 31, | 2018 |  | 2017
Investments: |  |  |
Corporate obligations | $ | 2,737,286 |  |  | $ | 2,914,145 |
Total variable interest entity assets: fixed income securities | $ | 2,737,286 |  |  | $ | 2,914,145 |
The following table provides supplemental information about the loans held as assets and long-term debt associated with the VIEs for which the fair value option has been elected as of December 31, 2018 and 2017:
| Estimated Fair Value |  | Unpaid Principal Balance
December 31, 2018: |  |  |
Loans | $ | 4,287,664 |  |  | $ | 3,402,413 |
Long-term debt | 5,268,596 |  |  | 4,552,643 |
December 31, 2017: |  |  |
Loans | 11,529,384 |  |  | 8,168,651 |
Long-term debt | $ | 12,160,544 |  |  | $ | 9,387,884 |
The following table displays the carrying amount of the assets, liabilities and maximum exposure to loss of Ambac’s variable interests in non-consolidated VIEs resulting from financial guarantee and derivative contracts by major underlying asset classes, as of December 31, 2018 and 2017:
| Carrying Value of Assets and Liabilities
| Maximum Exposure To Loss (1) |  | Insurance Assets (2) |  | Insurance Liabilities (3) |  | Net Derivative Assets (Liabilities) (4)
December 31, 2018: |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Global structured finance: |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Collateralized debt obligations | $ | 9,787 |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | — |  |  | $ | (2 | )
Mortgage-backed—residential (5) | 6,713,437 |  |  | 1,859,121 |  |  | 546,682 |  |  | — |
Other consumer asset-backed | 1,700,984 |  |  | 15,435 |  |  | 238,234 |  |  | — |
Other commercial asset-backed | 873,343 |  |  | 20,735 |  |  | 12,264 |  |  | — |
Other | 2,122,648 |  |  | 53,462 |  |  | 301,260 |  |  | 7,170 |
Total global structured finance | 11,420,199 |  |  | 1,948,753 |  |  | 1,098,440 |  |  | 7,168 |
Global public finance | 24,145,956 |  |  | 309,071 |  |  | 335,437 |  |  | (1,457 | )
Total | $ | 35,566,155 |  |  | $ | 2,257,824 |  |  | $ | 1,433,877 |  |  | $ | 5,711 |
| Carrying Value of Assets and Liabilities
| Maximum Exposure To Loss (1) |  | Insurance Assets (2) |  | Insurance Liabilities (3) |  | Net Derivative Assets (Liabilities) (4)
December 31, 2017: |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Global structured finance: |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Collateralized debt obligations | $ | 35,555 |  |  | $ | 169 |  |  | $ | 1 |  |  | $ | (15 | )
Mortgage-backed—residential | 12,766,685 |  |  | 619,848 |  |  | 3,218,356 |  |  | — |
Other consumer asset-backed | 2,266,610 |  |  | 23,405 |  |  | 328,732 |  |  | — |
Other commercial asset-backed | 987,797 |  |  | 30,413 |  |  | 35,976 |  |  | — |
Other | 2,513,304 |  |  | 60,086 |  |  | 306,457 |  |  | 10,311 |
Total global structured finance | 18,569,951 |  |  | 733,921 |  |  | 3,889,522 |  |  | 10,296 |
Global public finance | 25,629,816 |  |  | 335,347 |  |  | 371,056 |  |  | (551 | )
Total | $ | 44,199,767 |  |  | $ | 1,069,268 |  |  | $ | 4,260,578 |  |  | $ | 9,745 |
(1) | Maximum exposure to loss represents the maximum future payments of principal and interest on insured obligations and derivative contracts plus Deferred Amounts and accrued and unpaid interest thereon. Ambac’s maximum exposure to loss does not include the benefit of any financial instruments (such as reinsurance or hedge contracts) that Ambac may utilize to mitigate the risks associated with these variable interests.
(2) | Insurance assets represent the amount recorded in “Premium receivables” and “Subrogation recoverable” for financial guarantee contracts on Ambac’s Consolidated Balance Sheets.
(3) | Insurance liabilities represent the amount recorded in “Loss and loss expense reserves” and “Unearned premiums” for financial guarantee contracts on Ambac’s Consolidated Balance Sheets.
(4) | Net derivative assets (liabilities) represent the fair value recognized on credit derivative contracts and interest rate swaps on Ambac’s Consolidated Balance Sheets.
(5) | On February 12, 2018, Deferred Amounts and Interest Accrued on Deferred Amounts in the amount of $3,000,158 and $856,834, respectively were settled. This settlement impacted both insurance assets and insurance liabilities in the table above.
Ambac Sponsored VIEs: Consolidated VIEs: In July 2015, Ambac Assurance entered into a secured borrowing transaction (the "Secured Borrowing") whereby it sold 17 Ambac insured residential mortgage-backed securities (the "Securities") and all rights associated therewith as of May 31, 2015, to a Delaware statutory trust (the "Trust") in exchange for an equity certificate in the Trust, all financial guarantee claim payments associated with the Securities and cash of $146,000 (prior to expenses associated with the transaction). Although the Securities were legally sold to the Trust, the Securities remained in Invested assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets until they were sold to redeem the outstanding Notes. At the same time, a second Delaware statutory trust (the "Issuer"), issued $146,000 of debt securities and used the proceeds, together with an equity certificate of the Issuer, to purchase from the Trust a certificate secured by and entitling the Issuer to all principal and interest payments (other than financial guarantee claim payments) on the Securities. Interest on the debt securities was payable monthly at an annual rate of one month LIBOR + 2.8%. Both the Trust and the Issuer were consolidated VIEs because Ambac Assurance was involved in their design and holds a significant amount of the beneficial interests issued by the VIEs and guaranteed the assets held by the VIEs. On June 22, 2018, Ambac Assurance exercised its right to terminate this structure though its right to sell a sufficient quantity of Securities to redeem the remaining outstanding Notes of the Issuer at par plus accrued interest. Accordingly, proceeds from the sale of Securities were used to redeem the outstanding Notes. VIE debt outstanding to third parties under this secured borrowing transaction had a carrying value of $0 and $73,993 as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and is reported in Long-Term Debt on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Non-Consolidated VIEs: A subsidiary of Ambac transferred financial assets to a VIE. The business purpose of this entity was to provide certain financial guarantee clients with funding for their debt obligations. This VIE was established as a separate legal entity, demonstrably distinct from Ambac and that Ambac, its affiliates or its agents could not unilaterally dissolve. The permitted activities of this entity are contractually limited to purchasing assets from Ambac, issuing medium-term notes ("MTNs") to fund such purchases, executing derivative hedges and obtaining financial guarantee policies with respect to indebtedness incurred. Ambac does not consolidate this entity because Ambac Assurance’s policies issued to this entity were allocated to the Segregated Account and, as discussed above, the exercise of related control rights in such policies remain subject to OCI approval under the Stipulation and Order. Ambac elected to account for its equity interest in this entity at fair value under the fair value option in accordance with the Financial Instruments Topic of the ASC. We believe that the fair value of the investments in this entity provides for greater transparency for recording profit or loss as compared to the equity method under the Investments – Equity Method and Joint Ventures Topic of the ASC. Refer to Note 9. Fair Value Measurements for further information on the valuation technique and inputs used to measure the fair value of Ambac’s equity interest in this entity. At December 31, 2018 and 2017 the fair value of this entity was $4,516 and $5,979, respectively, and is reported within Other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.
• | Total principal amount of debt outstanding was $393,010 and $420,600 at December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. In each case, Ambac sold assets to this entity. The assets are composed of utility obligations with a weighted average rating of BBB+ at December 31, 2018 and weighted average life of 2.1 years. The purchase by this entity of financial assets was financed through the issuance of MTNs, which are cross-collateralized by the purchased assets. The MTNs have the same expected weighted average life as the purchased assets. Derivative contracts (interest rate swaps) are used within the entity for economic hedging purposes only. Derivative positions were established at the time MTNs were issued to purchase financial assets. As of December 31, 2018 Ambac Assurance had financial guarantee insurance policies issued for all assets, MTNs and derivative contracts owned and outstanding by the entity.
• | Insurance premiums paid to Ambac Assurance by this entity are earned in a manner consistent with other insurance policies, over the risk period. Additionally, any losses incurred on such insurance policies are included in Ambac’s Consolidated Statements of Total Comprehensive Income (Loss). Under the terms of an Administrative Agency Agreement, Ambac provides certain administrative duties, primarily collecting amounts due on the obligations and making interest payments on the MTNs.
On August 28, 2014, Ambac monetized its ownership of the junior surplus note issued to it by the Segregated Account by depositing the junior surplus note into a newly formed VIE trust in exchange for cash and an owner trust certificate, which represents Ambac's right to residual cash flows from the junior surplus note. Ambac does not consolidate the VIE since it does not have a variable interest in the trust. Ambac reports its owner trust certificate as an equity investment within Other investments on the Consolidated Balance Sheets with associated results from operations included within Net investment income: Other investments on the Consolidated Statements of Total Comprehensive Income (Loss). The equity investment had a carrying value of $40,168 and $34,941 as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Additionally, at December 31, 2018 and 2017 Ambac held $0 and $35,000 of the debt issued by this VIE. On February 12, 2018, Ambac formed a VIE, Ambac LSNI, to issue Secured Notes in connection with the Rehabilitation Exit Transactions described further in Note 1. Background and Business Description. Ambac does not consolidate the VIE since it does not have a variable interest in the trust. Ambac reports its holdings of Secured Notes within Fixed Income Securities in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The carrying values of Secured Notes held by Ambac Assurance and Ambac as of December 31, 2018 were $584,622 and $71,851, respectively. Ambac's debt obligation to the VIE (the Ambac Note) had a carrying value of $1,940,289 and is reported within Long-Term Debt on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

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- Definition Tabular disclosure of the significant judgments and assumptions made in determining whether a variable interest (as defined) held by the entity requires the variable interest entity (VIE) (as defined) to be consolidated and (or) disclose information about its involvement with the VIE, individually or in aggregate (as applicable); the nature of restrictions, if any, on the consolidated VIE's assets and on the settlement of its liabilities reported by an entity in its statement of financial position, including the carrying amounts of such assets and liabilities; the nature of, and changes in, the risks associated with involvement in the VIE; how involvement with the VIE affects the entity's financial position, financial performance, and cash flows; the lack of recourse if creditors (or beneficial interest holders) of the consolidated VIE have no recourse to the general credit of the primary beneficiary (if applicable); the terms of arrangements, giving consideration to both explicit arrangements and implicit variable interests, if any, that could require the entity to provide financial support to the VIE, including events or circumstances that could expose the entity to a loss; the methodology used by the entity for determining whether or not it is the primary beneficiary of the variable interest entity; the significant factors considered and judgments made in determining that the power to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact the VIE's economic performance are shared (as defined); the carrying amounts and classification of assets and liabilities of the VIE included in the statement of financial position; the entity's maximum exposure to loss, if any, as a result of its involvement with the VIE, including how the maximum exposure is determined and significant sources of the entity's exposure to the VIE; a comparison of the carrying amounts of the assets and liabilities and the entity's maximum exposure to loss; information about any liquidity arrangements, guarantees, and (or) other commitments by third parties that may affect the fair value or risk of the entity's variable interest in the VIE; whether or not the entity has provided financial support or other support (explicitly or implicitly) to the VIE that it was not previously contractually required to provide or whether the entity intends to provide that support, including the type and amount of the support and the primary reasons for providing the support; and supplemental information the entity determines necessary to provide. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 810 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 5A -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=108788376&loc=SL6759159-111685 Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 810 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 6 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=108788376&loc=d3e5747-111685 Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 810 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 9 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=108788376&loc=SL6228884-111685 Reference 4: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 810 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=108788376&loc=d3e5710-111685 Reference 5: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 810 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=108788376&loc=d3e5728-111685 + Details
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