MAC receives California licence

Bond insurer Municipal Assurance Corp (MAC), a member of the Assured Guaranty group of companies, has received a licence to write financial guaranty insurance in the State of California.

MAC joins its affiliates Assured Guaranty Municipal (AGM) and Assured Guaranty Corp. (AGC), which were already licensed to write policies in California.

The insurer is now licensed to insure municipal bonds in forty-eight states plus the District of Columbia, and it has applied for licensing in the two remaining states, Alabama and New Mexico.

MAC was launched in 2013 to guarantee only US municipal bonds in the most well-understood bond sectors such as general obligations and tax-backed issues for cities, counties and school districts, and public electric, water, sewer and transportation revenue bonds.

“We are pleased that we will be able to offer MAC’s AA/AA+ bond insurance to California issuers seeking the most cost-effective financing solutions for their government operations and essential public services,” said Dominic Frederico, president and chief executive officer of Assured Guaranty. “Investors seeking insured bonds in California’s municipal bond market have a new, US muni-only alternative with two double-A ratings.

“Municipal bonds of California issuers represented 15 percent of the total par issued in the US public finance market in 2013; we look forward to MAC being able to serve that significant market, especially the small to medium-size bond transactions that MAC was designed to support. Assured Guaranty has maintained an office in San Francisco for almost 20 years to provide superior service to issuers and bankers in California and the western states.”