Business and Basis of Presentation

Business

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (“AGL” and, together with its subsidiaries, “Assured Guaranty” or the “Company”) is a Bermuda-based holding company that provides, through its operating subsidiaries, credit protection products to the United States (“U.S.”) and international public finance (including infrastructure) and structured finance markets. The Company applies its credit underwriting judgment, risk management skills and capital markets experience to offer financial guaranty insurance that protects holders of debt instruments and other monetary obligations from defaults in scheduled payments. If an obligor defaults on a scheduled payment due on an obligation, including a scheduled principal or interest payment (“Debt Service”), the Company is required under its unconditional and irrevocable financial guaranty to pay the amount of the shortfall to the holder of the obligation. The Company markets its financial guaranty insurance directly to issuers and underwriters of public finance and structured finance securities as well as to investors in such obligations. The Company guarantees obligations issued principally in the U.S. and the United Kingdom ("U.K."), and also guarantees obligations issued in other countries and regions, including Australia and Western Europe.

In the past, the Company sold credit protection by issuing policies that guaranteed payment obligations under credit derivatives, primarily credit default swaps ("CDS"). Financial guaranty contracts accounted for as credit derivatives are generally structured such that the circumstances giving rise to the Company’s obligation to make loss payments are similar to those for financial guaranty insurance contracts. The Company’s credit derivative transactions are governed by International Swaps and Derivative Association, Inc. (“ISDA”) documentation. The Company has not entered into any new CDS in order to sell credit protection since the beginning of 2009, when regulatory guidelines were issued that limited the terms under which such protection could be sold. The capital and margin requirements applicable under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) also contributed to the Company not entering into such new CDS since 2009. The Company actively pursues opportunities to terminate existing CDS, which have the effect of reducing future fair value volatility in income and/or reducing rating agency capital charges.

Basis of Presentation

The unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments that are of a normal recurring nature, necessary for a fair statement of the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company and its consolidated variable interest entities (“VIEs”) for the periods presented. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates. These unaudited interim consolidated financial statements are as of June 30, 2015 and cover the three-month period ended June 30, 2015 ("Second Quarter 2015"), the three-month period ended June 30, 2014 ("Second Quarter 2014"), six-month period ended June 30, 2015 ("Six Months 2015") and the six-month period ended June 30, 2014 ("Six Months 2014"). Certain financial information that is normally included in annual financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP, but is not required for interim reporting purposes, has been condensed or omitted. The year-end balance sheet data was derived from audited financial statements.

The unaudited interim consolidated financial statements include the accounts of AGL, its direct and indirect subsidiaries (collectively, the “Subsidiaries”), and its consolidated VIEs. Intercompany accounts and transactions between and among all consolidated entities have been eliminated.

These unaudited interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements included in AGL’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

The Company's principal insurance company subsidiaries are:


•	Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. ("AGM"), domiciled in New York;


•	Municipal Assurance Corp. ("MAC"), domiciled in New York;


•	Assured Guaranty Corp. ("AGC"), domiciled in Maryland;


•	Assured Guaranty (Europe) Ltd. ("AGE"), organized in the United Kingdom; and


•	Assured Guaranty Re Ltd. (“AG Re”), domiciled in Bermuda.

The Company’s organizational structure includes various holding companies, two of which - Assured Guaranty US Holdings Inc. (“AGUS”) and Assured Guaranty Municipal Holdings Inc. (“AGMH”) - have public debt outstanding. See Note 16, Long-Term Debt and Credit Facilities.

Future Application of Accounting Standards

Consolidation

In February 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2015-02, Consolidation (Topic 810): Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis, which is intended to improve certain areas of consolidation guidance for legal entities such as limited partnerships, limited liability companies, and securitization structures. The ASU will be effective on January 1, 2016. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. The Company does not expect that ASU 2015-02 will have any material effect on its Consolidated Financial Statements.

Interest

In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-03, Interest - Imputation of Interest (Topic 835-30): Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs, which requires that debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of that debt liability, consistent with debt discounts. The ASU will be effective on January 1, 2016 and should be applied retrospectively. The adoption of this ASU will require the Company to reclassify its debt issuance costs from other assets to long-term debt on the Consolidated Balance Sheet. As of June 30, 2015, the debt issuance costs were approximately $5 million.

Investments

In May 2015, the FASB issued ASU No. 2015-07, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosures for Investments in Certain Entities That Calculate Net Asset Value per Share, which removes the requirement to make certain disclosures and categorize within the fair value hierarchy, certain investments for which fair value is measured using the net asset value per share. The ASU will be effective on January 1, 2016 and should be applied retrospectively to all periods presented; earlier adoption is permitted. The Company has investments with a fair value of $74 million and $76 million, as of June 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively, that are carried at fair value using the net asset value per share subject to this ASU.