Reinsurance

The Company assumes exposure (Assumed Business) and may cede portions of exposure it has insured (Ceded Business) in exchange for premiums, net of any ceding commissions. Substantially all of the Company’s Assumed Business and Ceded Business relates to financial guaranty business, except for a modest amount that relates to AGRO's non-financial guaranty business. The Company historically entered into, and with respect to new business originated by AGRO continues to enter into, ceded reinsurance contracts in order to obtain greater business diversification and reduce the net potential loss from large risks.

Accounting Policy

For business assumed and ceded, the accounting model of the underlying direct financial guaranty contract dictates the accounting model used for the reinsurance contract (except for those eliminated as FG VIEs). For any assumed or ceded financial guaranty insurance premiums and losses, the accounting models described in Note 6 are followed. For any assumed or ceded credit derivative contracts, the accounting model in Note 8 is followed.

Assumed and Ceded Financial Guaranty Business

The Company has assumed financial guaranty business (Assumed Financial Guaranty Business) from third party insurers, primarily other monoline financial guaranty companies that currently are in runoff and no longer actively writing new business (Legacy Monoline Insurers). The Company, if required, secures its reinsurance obligations to these Legacy Monoline Insurers, typically by depositing in trust assets with a market value equal to its assumed liabilities calculated on a U.S. statutory basis.

As of December 31, 2018, the majority of the Company’s Assumed Financial Guaranty Business from Legacy Monoline Insurers consists of business that AGC assumed in the SGI Transaction effective as of June 1, 2018, pursuant to which AGC (among other things) assumed, generally on a 100% quota share basis, substantially all of SGI’s insured portfolio. The par value on that date of the exposures reinsured totaled approximately $11 billion. The reinsured portfolio consists predominantly of public finance and infrastructure obligations that meet Assured Guaranty’s new business underwriting criteria. See Note 2, Assumption of Insured Portfolio and Business Combinations for additional information on the SGI Transaction. The balance of the Company’s Assumed Financial Guaranty Business mainly consists of business that the Company (predominantly AGC and/or AG Re) assumed prior to the 2008-2009 financial crisis from other Legacy Monoline Insurers.

The Company’s facultative and treaty agreements with the Legacy Monoline Insurers are generally subject to termination at the option of the ceding company:


•	if the Company fails to meet certain financial and regulatory criteria;


•	if the Company fails to maintain a specified minimum financial strength rating, or


•	upon certain changes of control of the Company.

Upon termination due to one of the above events, the Company typically would be required to return to the ceding company unearned premiums (net of ceding commissions) and loss reserves, calculated on a U.S. statutory basis, attributable to the assumed business (plus in certain cases, an additional required amount), after which the Company would be released from liability with respect to such business.

As of December 31, 2018, if each third party company ceding business to AG Re and/or AGC had a right to recapture such business, and chose to exercise such right, the aggregate amounts that AG Re and AGC could be required to pay to all such companies would be approximately $42 million and $326 million, respectively.

The Company has ceded financial guaranty business to non-affiliated companies to limit its exposure to risk. The Company remains primarily liable for all risks it directly underwrites and is required to pay all gross claims. It then seeks reimbursement from the reinsurer for its proportionate share of claims. The Company may be exposed to risk for this exposure if it were required to pay the gross claims and not be able to collect ceded claims from an assuming company experiencing financial distress. The Company’s ceded contracts generally allow the Company to recapture ceded financial guaranty business after certain triggering events, such as reinsurer downgrades.

The following table presents the components of premiums and losses reported in the consolidated statements of operations and the contribution of the Company's Assumed and Ceded Businesses (both financial guaranty and non-financial guaranty).

Effect of Reinsurance on Statement of Operations



	Year Ended December 31,
	2018			2017			2016
	(in millions)
Premiums Written:
Direct	$	288		$	297		$	165
Assumed (1)	324			10			(11		)
Ceded (2)	14			18			(17		)
Net	$	626		$	325		$	137
Premiums Earned:
Direct	$	509		$	693		$	887
Assumed	51			27			27
Ceded	(12		)	(30		)	(50		)
Net	$	548		$	690		$	864
Loss and LAE:
Direct	$	68		$	404		$	327
Assumed	(1		)	11			—
Ceded	(3		)	(27		)	(32		)
Net	$	64		$	388		$	295

____________________


(1)	Negative assumed premiums written were due to changes in expected debt service schedules. Includes business assumed from SGI pursuant to the SGI Transaction.


(2)	Positive ceded premiums written were due to commutations and changes in expected debt service schedules.

In addition to the items presented in the table above, the Company records in the consolidated statements of operations, the effect of assumed and ceded credit derivative exposures. These amounts were gains of $3 million in 2018, and losses of $1 million and $27 million in 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Exposure to Reinsurers (1)



	As of December 31,
	2018			2017
	(in millions)
Due (To) From:
Assumed premium, net of commissions	$	82		$	53
Ceded premium, net of commissions	(26		)	(42		)
Assumed expected loss to be paid	(49		)	(71		)
Ceded expected loss to be paid	14			29
Outstanding Exposure:
Financial guaranty
Assumed par outstanding	16,904			8,383
Ceded par outstanding (2)	2,389			4,434
Non-financial guaranty exposure (see Note 4)
Assumed	1,081			974
Ceded	239			159

____________________

(1)

The total collateral posted by all non-affiliated reinsurers required to post, or that had agreed to post, collateral as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 was approximately $80 million and $118 million, respectively. Such collateral is posted (i) in the case of certain reinsurers not authorized or "accredited" in the U.S., in order for the Company to receive credit for the liabilities ceded to such reinsurers, and (ii) in the case of certain reinsurers authorized in the U.S., on terms negotiated with the Company.


(2)	Of the total par ceded to unrated or BIG rated reinsurers, $236 million and $296 million is rated BIG as of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.

In accordance with U.S. statutory accounting requirements and U.S. insurance laws and regulations, in order for the Company to receive credit for liabilities ceded to reinsurers domiciled outside of the U.S., such reinsurers must secure their liabilities to the Company. These reinsurers are required to post collateral for the benefit of the Company in an amount at least equal to the sum of their ceded unearned premium reserve, loss reserves and contingency reserves all calculated on a statutory basis of accounting. In addition, certain authorized reinsurers post collateral on terms negotiated with the Company.

Commutations

In recent years the Company has reassumed previously ceded books of business from several of its reinsurers. The table below summarizes the effect of such commutations.

Commutations of Ceded Reinsurance Contracts



	Year Ended December 31,
	2018			2017		2016
	(in millions)
Increase in net unearned premium reserve	$	64		$	82	$	—
Increase in net par outstanding	1,457			5,107		28
Commutation gains (losses) (1)	(16		)	328		8

____________________


(1)	Includes SGI commutation. See Note 2, Assumption of Insured Portfolio and Business Combinations.

Excess of Loss Reinsurance Facility

Effective January 1, 2018, AGC, AGM and MAC entered into a $400 million aggregate excess of loss reinsurance facility of which $180 million was placed with an unaffiliated reinsurer. This facility replaces a similar $400 million aggregate excess of loss reinsurance facility, of which $360 million was placed with unaffiliated reinsurers, that AGC, AGM and MAC had entered into effective January 1, 2016 and which terminated on December 31, 2017. The new facility covers losses occurring either from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2024, or January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2025, at the option of AGC, AGM and MAC. It terminates on January 1, 2020, unless AGC, AGM and MAC choose to extend it. The new facility covers certain U.S. public finance exposures insured or reinsured by AGC, AGM and MAC as of September 30, 2017, excluding exposures that were rated below investment grade as of December 31, 2017 by Moody’s or S&P or internally by AGC, AGM or MAC and is subject to certain per credit limits. Among the exposures excluded are those associated with the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its related authorities and public corporations. The new facility attaches when AGC’s, AGM’s and MAC’s net losses (net of AGC’s and AGM's reinsurance (including from affiliates) and net of recoveries) exceed $0.8 billion in the aggregate. The new facility covers a portion of the next $400 million of losses, with the reinsurer assuming $180 million of the $400 million of losses and AGC, AGM and MAC jointly retaining the remaining $220 million. The reinsurer is required to be rated at least AA- or to post collateral sufficient to provide AGC, AGM and MAC with the same reinsurance credit as reinsurers rated AA-. AGC, AGM and MAC are obligated to pay the reinsurer its share of recoveries relating to losses during the coverage period in the covered portfolio. AGC, AGM and MAC paid approximately $3.2 million of premiums in 2018 for the term January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018 and deposited approximately $3.2 million in cash into a trust account for the benefit of the reinsurer to be used to pay the premiums for 2019. The main differences between the new facility and the prior facility that terminated on December 31, 2017 are the reinsurance attachment point ($0.8 billion versus $1.25 billion), the total reinsurance coverage ($180 million part of $400 million versus $360 million part of $400 million) and the annual premium ($3.2 million versus $9 million).

Assumed and Ceded Non-Financial Guaranty Business

As described in Note 4, Outstanding Exposure, Non-Financial Guaranty Insurance, the Company, through AGRO, assumes non-financial guaranty business from third party insurers (Assumed Non-Financial Guaranty Business). It also retrocedes some of this business to third party reinsurers. A downgrade of AGRO’s financial strength rating by S&P below “A” would require AGRO to post, as of December 31, 2018, an estimated $2 million of collateral in respect of certain of its Assumed Non-Financial Guaranty Business. A further downgrade of AGRO’s S&P rating below A- would give the company ceding such business the right to recapture the business for AGRO’s collateral amount, and, if also accompanied by a downgrade of AGRO's financial strength rating by A.M. Best Company, Inc. below A-, would also require AGRO to post, as of December 31, 2018, an estimated $8 million of collateral in respect of a different portion of AGRO’s Assumed Non-Financial Guaranty Business. AGRO’s ceded contracts generally have equivalent provisions requiring the assuming reinsurer to post collateral and/or allowing AGRO to recapture the ceded business upon certain triggering events, such as reinsurer rating downgrades.