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Derivative Instruments
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2019
Text Block [Abstract]  
Derivative Instruments
Note 8: Derivative Instruments
U.S. Public Finance Insurance
The Company’s derivative exposure within its U.S. public finance insurance operations primarily consists of insured interest rate and inflation-linked swaps related to insured U.S. public finance debt issues. These derivatives do not qualify for the financial guarantee scope exception and are accounted for as derivative instruments.
Corporate
The Company has entered into derivative instruments primarily consisting of interest rate swaps to manage the risks associated with fluctuations in interest rates affecting the value of certain assets. During the third quarter of 2019, the Company terminated a portion of its outstanding interest rate swaps. The termination amount paid in cash reflected the fair values of the swaps at the termination date and all collateral held by the counterparty to the interest rate swaps was returned to the Company. The termination of these swaps was executed to reduce future exposure to interest rate movements.
International and Structured Finance Insurance
The Company has entered into a derivative instrument to provide financial guarantee insurance to a structured finance transaction that does not qualify for the financial guarantee scope exception and, therefore, is accounted for as a derivative. The insured CDS contract, referencing CMBS, is intended to be held for the entire term of the contract unless a settlement with the counterparty is negotiated. The Company no longer insures new CDS contracts except for transactions related to the restructuring or reduction of existing derivative exposure. The Company’s derivative exposure within its international and structured finance insurance segment also includes insured interest rate and inflation-linked swaps related to insured debt issues.
The Company has also entered into a derivative contract as a result of a commutation that occurred in 2014. Changes in the fair value of the Company’s
non-insured
derivative are included in “Net gains (losses) on financial instruments at fair value and foreign exchange” on the Company’s consolidated statements of operations.
Variable Interest Entities
A VIE consolidated by the Company has entered into a cross currency swap, which was entered into to manage the variability in cash flows resulting from fluctuations in foreign currency rates.
 
Credit Derivatives Sold
The following tables present information about credit derivatives sold by the Company’s insurance operations that were outstanding as of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018. Credit ratings represent the lower of underlying ratings assigned to the collateral by Moody’s, S&P or MBIA.
                                                                                                                                                                                 
$ in millions
  
As of September 30, 2019
  
 
  
Notional Value
    
 
  
Credit Derivatives Sold
  
Weighted
Average
Remaining
Expected
Maturity
 
  
AAA
  
AA
  
A
  
BBB
  
Below
Investment
Grade
  
Total
Notional
  
Fair
 
Value
Asset
(Liability)
  
Insured credit default swaps
    
0.3
 
Years
     $
-
     $
-
     $
-
     $
-
     $
34
     $
34
     $
(10
)
Insured swaps
    
14.8 Years
      
-
      
66
      
1,295
      
461
      
-
      
1,822
      
(2
)
                                                                 
Total notional
    
 
     $
-
     $
66
     $
1,295
     $
461
     $
34
     $
1,856
          
                                                                 
Total fair value
    
 
     $
-
     $
-
     $
(1
 )   $
(1
 )   $
(10
 )    
 
     $
(12
)
                                                                                                                                                                                 
$ in millions
  
As of December 31, 2018
  
 
  
Notional Value
    
 
 
Credit Derivatives Sold
  
Weighted
Average
Remaining
Expected
Maturity
 
  
AAA
 
  
AA
 
  
A
 
  
BBB
  
Below
Investment
Grade
  
Total
Notional
  
Fair
 
Value
Asset
(Liability)
Insured credit default swaps
    
1.0 Years
     $
-
     $
-
     $
-
     $
-
     $
70
     $
70
     $
(33
 )
Insured swaps
    
15.7 Years
      
-
      
74
      
1,463
      
896
      
-
      
2,433
      
(2
 )
                                                                 
Total notional
    
 
     $
-
     $
74
     $
1,463
     $
896
     $
70
     $
2,503
      
 
  
                                                                 
Total fair value
    
 
     $
-
     $
-
     $
(1
 )   $
(1
 )   $
(33
 )    
 
     $
(35
 )
                                                                 
Internal credit ratings assigned by MBIA on the underlying collateral are derived by the Company’s surveillance group. In assigning an internal rating, current status reports from issuers and trustees, as well as publicly available transaction-specific information, are reviewed. Also, where appropriate, cash flow analyses and collateral valuations are considered. The maximum potential amount of future payments (undiscounted) on insured CDS and insured swaps is estimated as the notional value of such contracts.
MBIA may hold recourse provisions with third parties in derivative instruments through subrogation rights, whereby if MBIA makes a claim payment, it may be entitled to any rights of the insured counterparty, including the right to any assets held as collateral.
Counterparty Credit Risk
The Company manages counterparty credit risk on an individual counterparty basis through master netting agreements covering derivative instruments in the corporate segment. These agreements allow the Company to contractually net amounts due from a counterparty with those amounts due to such counterparty when certain triggering events occur. The Company only executes swaps under master netting agreements, which typically contain mutual credit downgrade provisions that generally provide the ability to require assignment or termination in the event either MBIA or the counterparty is downgraded below a specified credit rating.
Under these agreements, the Company may receive or provide cash, U.S. Treasury or other highly rated securities to secure counterparties’ exposure to the Company or its exposure to counterparties, respectively. Such collateral is available to the holder to pay for replacing the counterparty in the event that the counterparty defaults. As of September 30, 2019
 and
December 31, 2018, the Company did
no
t hold or post cash collateral to derivative counterparties.
As of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the Company had securities with a fair value of $210 million and $205 million, respectively, posted to derivative counterparties and these amounts are included within “Fixed-maturity securities held as
available-for-sale,
at fair value” on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets.
As of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the fair value on
one
Credit Support Annex (“CSA”) was $2 million. This CSA governs collateral posting requirements between MBIA and its derivative counterparties. The Company did not receive collateral due to the Company’s credit rating, which was below the CSA minimum credit ratings level for holding counterparty collateral. As of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the counterparty was rated A
a3
 by Moody’s and A+ by S&P.
 
Financial Statement Presentation
The fair value of amounts recognized for eligible derivative contracts executed with the same counterparty under a master netting agreement, including any cash collateral that may have been received or posted by the Company, is presented on a net basis in accordance with accounting guidance for the offsetting of fair value amounts related to derivative instruments. Insured CDS and insured swaps are not subject to master netting agreements. VIE derivative assets and liabilities are not presented net of any master netting agreements. Counterparty netting of derivative assets and liabilities offsets balances in “Interest rate swaps”, when applicable.
The following table presents the total fair value of the Company’s derivative assets and liabilities by instrument and balance sheet location, before counterparty netting, as of September 30, 2019:
                                                                                                             
In millions
  
 
 
  
Derivative Assets 
(1)
  
Derivative Liabilities 
(1)
Derivative Instruments
  
Notional
Amount
Outstanding
 
  
Balance Sheet Location
 
  
Fair Value
  
Balance Sheet Location
 
  
Fair Value
Not designated as hedging instruments:
    
 
      
 
      
 
      
 
      
 
Insured credit default swaps
   $
34
      
Other assets
     $
-
      
Derivative liabilities
     $
(10)
Insured swaps
    
1,822
      
Other assets
      
-
      
Derivative liabilities
      
(2)
Interest rate swaps
    
440
      
Other assets
      
2
      
Derivative liabilities
      
(152)
Interest rate swaps-embedded
    
227
      
Medium-term
 notes
      
-
      
Medium-term
 notes
      
(17)
Currency
swaps-VIE
   
56
      
Other
assets-VIE
     
8
      
Derivative
 liabilities-VIE
     
-
All other
    
49
      
Other assets
      
-
      
Derivative liabilities
      
(30)
                                       
Total
non-designated
derivatives
   $
2,628
      
 
     $
10
      
 
     $
(211)
 
(1) - In accordance with the accounting guidance for derivative instruments and hedging activities, the balance sheet location of the Company’s embedded derivative instruments is determined by the location of the related host contract.
The following table presents the total fair value of the Company’s derivative assets and liabilities by instrument and balance sheet location, before counterparty netting, as of December 31, 2018:
                                                                                                               
In millions
  
 
 
  
Derivative Assets
 
(1)
    
Derivative Liabilities
 
(1)
  
Derivative Instruments
  
Notional
Amount
Outstanding
 
  
Balance Sheet Location
 
  
Fair Value
 
  
Balance Sheet Location
 
  
Fair Value
 
Not designated as
 
hedging
 
instruments:
    
               
 
      
 
      
 
      
 
      
 
  
Insured credit default swaps
   $
70
      
Other assets
     $
-
      
Derivative liabilities
     $
(33
 )
Insured swaps
    
2,433
      
Other assets
      
-
      
Derivative liabilities
      
(2
 )
Interest rate swaps
    
712
      
Other assets
      
2
      
Derivative liabilities
      
(157
 )
Interest rate swaps-embedded
    
293
      
Medium-term
 notes
      
-
      
Medium-term
 notes
      
(13
 )
Currency
swaps-VIE
   
62
      
Other
assets-VIE
     
16
      
Derivative
 liabilities-VIE
     
-
  
All other
    
49
      
Other assets
      
-
      
Derivative liabilities
      
(7
 )
                                         
Total
non-designated
derivatives
   $
3,619
      
 
     $
18
      
 
     $
(212
 )
                                         
 
(1) - In accordance with the accounting guidance for derivative instruments and hedging activities, the balance sheet location of the Company’s embedded derivative instruments is determined by the location of the related host contract.
The following table presents the effect of derivative instruments on the consolidated statements of operations for the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018:
In millions
 
 
 
 
 
Derivatives Not Designated as
 
 
Three Months Ended September 30,
 
Hedging Instruments
 
Location of Gain (Loss) Recognized in Income on Derivative
 
2019
 
 
2018
 
Insured credit default swaps
 
Unrealized gains (losses) on insured derivatives
 
$
9 
 
 
$
4 
 
Insured credit default swaps
 
Realized gains (losses) and other settlements on insured derivatives
 
 
(10)
 
 
 
(5)
 
Interest rate swaps
 
Net gains (losses) on financial instruments at fair value and foreign exchange
 
 
(30)
 
 
 
7 
 
Currency
swaps-VIE
 
Net gains (losses) on financial instruments at fair value and foreign
exchange-VIE
 
 
(3)
 
 
 
- 
 
All other
 
Net gains (losses) on financial instruments at fair value and foreign exchange
 
 
(14)
 
 
 
(4)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total
 
 
$
(48)
 
 
$
2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The following table presents the effect of derivative instruments on the consolidated statements of operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018:
In millions
 
 
 
 
 
Derivatives Not Designated as
 
 
Nine Months Ended September 30,
 
Hedging Instruments
 
Location of Gain (Loss) Recognized in Income on Derivative
 
2019
 
 
2018
 
Insured credit default swaps
 
Unrealized gains (losses) on insured derivatives
 
$
23 
 
 
$
36 
 
Insured credit default swaps
 
Realized gains (losses) and other settlements on insured derivatives
 
 
(11)
 
 
 
(49)
 
Interest rate swaps
 
Net gains (losses) on financial instruments at fair value and foreign exchange
 
 
(85)
 
 
 
33 
 
Currency
swaps-VIE
 
Net gains (losses) on financial instruments at fair value and foreign
exchange-VIE
 
 
(8)
 
 
 
(5)
 
All other
 
Net gains (losses) on financial instruments at fair value and foreign exchange
 
 
(23)
 
 
 
(4)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total
 
 
$
(104)
 
 
$
11