Assured Guaranty Ltd. Changes Name of Subsidiary Financial Security Assurance Inc. to Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. Assured Guaranty Companies Provide Municipal Market with Choice of Two Financial Guarantors

NEW YORK, Nov 02, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) ("Assured Guaranty" or the "Company"), the holding company for Assured Guaranty Corp. and Financial Security Assurance Inc. ("FSA"), announced today that, pending regulatory approval, it will change the name of its subsidiary FSA to Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. The Company also plans to change the names of the FSA companies worldwide.

Assured Guaranty acquired FSA on July 1, 2009, expanding its presence in the bond insurance industry by offering issuers and investors the financial strength and flexibility of two separately capitalized bond insurers. Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp., formerly FSA, now serves the municipal market exclusively, and Assured Guaranty Corp. provides financial guaranty insurance to both the municipal and structured finance sectors.

Dominic Frederico, President and Chief Executive Officer of Assured Guaranty said, "Since completing the acquisition, we have been contemplating this name change to highlight the role of the municipal-only bond insurance company and to better communicate that we are offering municipal bond issuers and investors a choice between two proven, financially strong guarantors. With the only established bond insurers to have come through the recession in strong capital positions, the Assured Guaranty family of companies, which now includes Assured Guaranty Corp., Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. and Assured Guaranty Re Ltd.

(licensed and operating exclusively in Bermuda), remain committed to the municipal market and have the capital resources to meet its needs.

"We also see an important role for Assured Guaranty Corp. to assist in the recovery of the structured finance sector as the economy improves. Our value proposition, which goes beyond the guaranty and includes providing liquidity and valuation, as well as credit analysis, surveillance, and, if necessary, remediation, is more necessary than ever given the current economic environment," he added.

Assured Guaranty has continued to see a strong demand for its financial guaranty products in the U.S. municipal market throughout 2009 as demonstrated by its previously announced third quarter 2009 U.S. public finance new issue volume.

The two direct bond insurers guaranteed a total of approximately $8.7 billion in U.S. municipal new issue volume, representing 9.6% of total par issued for the third quarter 2009. Year-to date, both companies combined have guaranteed approximately $32.0 billion in new issues, representing 9.5% of public finance new issuance.

Information on Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp., formerly FSA, is currently available at www.fsa.com. On or about November 18, 2009, information on the FSA web site will be migrated to the Assured Guaranty web site at www.assuredguaranty.com.

Assured Guaranty Ltd. is a publicly traded Bermuda-based holding company. Its operating subsidiaries provide credit enhancement products to the U.S. and international public finance and structured finance markets. More information on the Company and its subsidiaries can be found at www.assuredguaranty.com.

Any forward-looking statements made in this press release reflect the current views of Assured Guaranty with respect to future events and financial performance and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in these statements. For example, Assured Guaranty's forward-looking statements could be affected by rating agency action, including a ratings downgrade at any time of one or more of Assured Guaranty's insurance subsidiaries and/or of transactions that such subsidiaries have insured, both of which have occurred in the past; developments in the world's financial and capital markets that adversely affect issuers' payment rates, Assured Guaranty's loss experience, its ability to cede exposure to reinsurers, its access to capital, its unrealized (losses) gains on derivative financial instruments or its investment returns; changes in the credit markets, segments thereof or general economic conditions; more severe or frequent losses affecting the adequacy of Assured Guaranty's loss reserve; the impact of market volatility on the mark-to-market of its contracts written in credit default swap form; reduction in the amount of reinsurance facultative cessions or portfolio opportunities available to Assured Guaranty; decreased demand or increased competition; changes in applicable accounting policies or practices; changes in applicable laws or regulation, including insurance and tax laws; other governmental actions; difficulties with the execution of Assured Guaranty's business strategy; contract cancellations; Assured Guaranty's dependence on customers; loss of key personnel; adverse technological developments; the effects of mergers, acquisitions and divestitures; natural or man-made catastrophes; other risks and uncertainties that have not been identified at this time; management's response to these factors; and other risk factors identified in Assured's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates on which they are made. Assured Guaranty undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE: Assured Guaranty Ltd.

CONTACT: Assured Guaranty Ltd. Media: Betsy Castenir, Managing Director, Corporate Communications, 212-339-3424 or 917-940-2462 [e-mail] or Ashweeta Durani, Vice President, Corporate Communications, 212-408-6042 or 917-597-2065 [e-mail] or Equity Investors: Sabra Purtill, CFA, Managing Director, Investor Relations, 212-408-6044 or 441-299-9375 [e-mail] or Ross Aron, Associate, Investor Relations, 212-261-5509 [e-mail] or Fixed Income Investors: Robert Tucker, Managing Director, Fixed Income Investor Relations, 212-339-0861 [e-mail] or Michael Walker, Director, Fixed Income Investor Relations, 212-261-5575 [e-mail] Copyright Business Wire 2009 -0- KEYWORD: Australia

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