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Financial Guarantee Insurance Contracts - Summary of Gross Premium Receivable Roll-Forward (Direct and Assumed Contracts) (Detail) € in Thousands, £ in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2019 EUR (€)	Mar. 31, 2019 GBP (£)	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2018 EUR (€)	Mar. 31, 2018 GBP (£)	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)
Insurance [Line Items]
Financial Guarantee Insurance Contracts, Accelerated Premium Revenue, Amount	$ 12,223						$ 9,392
Financial Guarantee Insurance Contracts, Premium Receivable [Roll Forward]
Beginning premium receivable	495,391			$ 586,312
Premium receipts	13,204			15,381
Adjustments for changes in expected and contractual cash flows	470			(1,289)
Accretion of premium receivable discount	3,228			3,846
Uncollectable premiums	(352)			604
Other adjustments (including foreign exchange)	1,864			6,615
Ending premium receivable	487,397			580,707
Premiums Receivable, Allowance for Doubtful Accounts	7,467							$ 7,136
United Kingdom, Pounds
Financial Guarantee Insurance Contracts, Premium Receivable [Roll Forward]
Ending premium receivable	141,527		£ 108,825	163,926		£ 116,815
Euro Member Countries, Euro
Financial Guarantee Insurance Contracts, Premium Receivable [Roll Forward]
Ending premium receivable	$ 30,062	€ 26,807		$ 36,679	€ 29,767

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Insurance [Line Items]

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Amount of increase (decrease) in the allowance for doubtful accounts.

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- Definition

This element represents the amount of premium revenue on financial guarantee insurance contracts recognized during the period that was accelerated for revenue recognition purposes.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 605
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
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- Definition

Amount of the premium receivable for financial guarantee insurance contracts reported in the statement of financial position. This element primarily would consist of those financial guarantee insurance contracts which premiums are to be collected over the contract period, but may, on occasion, include premiums which are to be collected in full at inception, but which straddle a financial reporting period.

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Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
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-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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-SubTopic 310
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
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Amount of cash inflow from premiums received for premium receivable on financial guarantee insurance contracts.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 17
-Subparagraph (f)
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A roll forward is a reconciliation of a concept from the beginning of a period to the end of a period.

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Amount of accretion of the discount for premiums receivable on financial guarantee insurance contracts.

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-SubTopic 310
-Section 50
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Amount of increase (decrease) in the premium receivable on financial guarantee insurance contracts from changes in the period of the contract.

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Amount of increase (decrease) in the premiums receivable on financial guarantee insurance contracts from adjustments classified as other.

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-Publisher FASB
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-SubTopic 310
-Section 50
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The carrying value as of the balance sheet date of the estimated valuation allowance to reduce gross premiums receivable to net realizable value.

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-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
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