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Financial Guaranty Variable Interest Entities and Consolidated Investment Vehicles
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2024
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Financial Guaranty Variable Interest Entities and Consolidated Investment Vehicles Financial Guaranty Variable Interest Entities and Consolidated Investment Vehicles
FG VIEs

Structured Finance and Other FG VIEs
    
The insurance subsidiaries provide financial guaranties with respect to debt obligations of special purpose entities, including VIEs, but do not act as the servicer or collateral manager for any VIE obligations they guarantee. The transaction structure generally provides certain financial protections to the insurance subsidiaries. This financial protection can take several forms, the most common of which are overcollateralization, first loss protection (or subordination) and excess spread. In the case of overcollateralization (i.e., the principal amount of the securitized assets exceeds the principal amount of the structured finance obligations), the structure allows defaults of the securitized assets before a default is experienced on the structured finance obligation guaranteed by the insurance subsidiaries. In the case of first loss, the insurance subsidiaries’ financial guaranty insurance policy only covers a senior layer of losses experienced by multiple obligations issued by the VIEs. The first loss exposure with respect to the assets is either retained by the seller or sold off in the form of equity or mezzanine debt to other investors. In the case of excess spread, the financial assets contributed to VIEs generate interest income that is in excess of the interest payments on the debt issued by the VIE. Such excess spread is typically distributed through the transaction’s cash flow waterfall and may be used to create additional credit enhancement, applied to redeem debt issued by the VIE (thereby, creating additional overcollateralization), or distributed to equity or other investors in the transaction.

    The insurance subsidiaries are not primarily liable for the debt obligations issued by the structured finance and other FG VIEs (which excludes the Puerto Rico Trusts described below) they insure and would only be required to make payments on those insured debt obligations in the event that the issuer of such debt obligations defaults on any principal or interest due and only for the amount of the shortfall. AGL’s and its insurance subsidiaries’ creditors do not have any rights with regard to the collateral supporting the debt issued by the structured finance and other FG VIEs. Proceeds from sales, maturities, prepayments and interest from such underlying collateral may only be used to pay debt service on structured finance and other FG VIEs’ liabilities.

As part of the terms of its financial guaranty contracts, the insurance subsidiaries obtain certain protective rights with respect to the VIE that give them additional controls over a VIE. These protective rights are triggered by the occurrence of certain events, such as failure to be in compliance with a covenant due to poor deal performance or a deterioration in a servicer’s or collateral manager’s financial condition. At deal inception, the insurance subsidiaries typically are not deemed to control the VIE; however, once a trigger event occurs, the insurance subsidiaries’ control of the VIE typically increases. The Company continuously evaluates its power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the economic performance of VIEs that have debt obligations insured by the insurance subsidiaries and, accordingly, where they are obligated to absorb VIE losses or receive benefits that could potentially be significant to the VIE. The insurance subsidiaries are deemed to be the control party for certain VIEs under GAAP, typically when their protective rights give them the power to both terminate and replace the transaction’s servicer or collateral manager, which are characteristics specific to the Company’s financial guaranty contracts. If the protective rights that could make the insurance subsidiaries the control party have not been triggered, then the VIE is not consolidated. If the insurance subsidiaries are deemed to no longer have those protective rights, the VIE is deconsolidated.
The structured finance and other FG VIEs’ liabilities that are guaranteed by the insurance subsidiaries are considered to be with recourse, because the insurance subsidiaries guarantee the payment of principal and interest regardless of the performance of the related FG VIEs’ assets. The structured finance and other FG VIEs’ liabilities that are not guaranteed by the insurance subsidiaries are considered to be without recourse, because the payment of principal and interest of these liabilities is wholly dependent on the performance of the FG VIEs’ assets.

The Company has elected the fair value option (FVO) for all assets and all liabilities of the structured finance and other FG VIEs. Upon initial adoption of the accounting guidance for VIEs in 2010, the Company elected to fair value its structured finance and other FG VIEs’ assets and liabilities as the carrying amount transition method was not practical. To allow for consistency in the accounting for the assets and liabilities of its consolidated FG VIEs other than the Puerto Rico Trusts, the Company elected the FVO. The change in fair value of all structured finance and other FG VIEs’ assets and liabilities is reported in “fair value gains (losses) on FG VIEs” in the condensed consolidated statement of operations, except for the change in fair value attributable to change in instrument-specific credit risk (ISCR) on the structured finance and other FG VIEs’ liabilities, which is reported in other comprehensive income (OCI). The ISCR amount is determined by using expected cash flows at the original date of consolidation, discounted at the effective yield, less current expected cash flows discounted at that same original effective yield. As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company consolidated 23 and 24 structured finance and other FG VIEs, respectively.

Puerto Rico Trusts

With respect to certain insured securities covered by the 2022 Puerto Rico Resolutions, insured bondholders were permitted to elect to receive custody receipts that represent an interest in the legacy insurance policy plus cash and investments. At least one separate custodial trust was set up for each legacy insured bond, and the trusts are deconsolidated when their liabilities are paid off. For those who made the election above, distributions of Plan Consideration are passed through to insured bondholders under the custody receipts to the extent of any cash or proceeds of new securities held in the custodial trust and are applied to make payments and/or prepayments of amounts due under the legacy insured bonds. The Company’s insurance policy continues to guarantee principal and interest coming due on the legacy insured bonds in accordance with the terms of such insurance policy on the originally scheduled legacy bond interest and principal payment dates to the extent that distributions of Plan Consideration are insufficient to pay or prepay such amounts after giving effect to the distributions described in the immediately preceding sentence. In the case of insured bondholders who elected to receive custody receipts, the Company retains the right to satisfy its obligations under the insurance policy with respect to the related legacy insured bonds at any time thereafter, with 30 days’ notice, by paying 100% of the then outstanding principal amount of insured bonds plus accrued interest.

By December 31, 2023, substantially all of the securities in the Puerto Rico Trusts had been called, and the assets in the Puerto Rico Trusts consisted primarily of cash. In January 2024, such cash proceeds were used to pay down a portion of the liabilities of the Puerto Rico Trusts. The remaining liabilities of the Puerto Rico Trusts will be paid by the U.S. Insurance Subsidiaries under their financial guaranty policies and are no longer dependent on the credit of PRHTA. For the Puerto Rico Trust liabilities, the Company elected the FVO in order to simplify the accounting for these instruments. As of both March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 the Company consolidated 24 custodial trusts established as part of the Puerto Rico resolutions reached in 2022. See Note 3, Outstanding Exposure, Exposure to Puerto Rico.

Components of FG VIEs’ Assets and Liabilities

Net fair value gains and losses on FG VIEs are expected to reverse to zero by the maturity of the FG VIEs’ debt, except for net premiums received and net claims paid by the insurance subsidiaries under the financial guaranty insurance contracts. The Company’s estimate of expected loss to be paid (recovered) for FG VIEs is included in Note 4, Expected Loss to be Paid (Recovered).
The table below shows the carrying value of FG VIEs’ assets and liabilities segregated by type of collateral.

Consolidated FG VIEs by Type of Collateral
As of
 March 31, 2024December 31, 2023
 (in millions)
FG VIEs’ assets:
U.S. RMBS first lien$139 $145 
U.S. RMBS second lien26 28 
Puerto Rico Trusts’ assets (includes $2 and $1 at fair value) (1)
155 
Total FG VIEs’ assets$167 $328 
FG VIEs’ liabilities with recourse:
U.S. RMBS first lien$151 $156 
U.S. RMBS second lien20 21 
Puerto Rico Trusts’ liabilities218 366 
Total FG VIEs’ liabilities with recourse$389 $543 
FG VIEs’ liabilities without recourse:
U.S. RMBS first lien$10 $11 
Total FG VIEs’ liabilities without recourse$10 $11 
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(1)    Includes $154 million of cash as December 31, 2023.

The inception-to-date change in fair value of the FG VIEs’ liabilities with recourse (all of which are measured at fair value under the FVO) attributable to the ISCR is calculated by holding all current period assumptions constant for each security and isolating the effect of the change in the insurance subsidiaries’ CDS spread from the most recent date of consolidation to the current period.

Selected Information for FG VIEs’ Assets and Liabilities
Measured under the FVO
As of
 March 31, 2024December 31, 2023
 (in millions)
Excess of unpaid principal over fair value of:
FG VIEs’ assets$260 $259 
FG VIEs’ liabilities with recourse 31 25 
FG VIEs’ liabilities without recourse16 16 
Unpaid principal balance for FG VIEs’ assets that were 90 days or more past due27 29 
Unpaid principal for FG VIEs’ liabilities with recourse (1)
420 568 
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(1)    FG VIEs’ liabilities with recourse will mature at various dates ranging from 2024 through 2041.

CIVs

CIVs consist of certain Sound Point funds for which the Company is the primary beneficiary or has a controlling interest. The Company consolidates investment vehicles that are VIEs when it is deemed to be the primary beneficiary, based on its power to direct the most significant activities of each VIE and its level of economic interest in the entities.

The assets and liabilities of the Company’s CIVs are held within separate legal entities. The assets of the CIVs are not available to creditors of the Company, other than creditors of the applicable CIVs. In addition, creditors of the CIVs have no recourse against the assets of the Company, other than the assets of such applicable CIVs. Liquidity available at the Company’s CIVs is not available for corporate liquidity needs, except to the extent of the Company’s investment in the funds, subject to redemption provisions. Changes in the fair value of assets and liabilities of CIVs, interest income and expense, and gains and losses on consolidation and deconsolidation of CIVs are reported in “fair value gains (losses) on CIVs” in the condensed
consolidated statements of operations. As of both March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company consolidated three CIVs.

Assets and Liabilities of CIVs
As of
March 31, 2024December 31, 2023
 (in millions)
Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents$22 $35 
Equity securities89 83 
Structured products264 248 
Other— 
Total assets (1)$377 $366 
Liabilities:
Other liabilities (2)$$
Total liabilities$$
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(1)    Includes investments with affiliated entities of $309 million and $281 million as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.
(2)    The balance is reported in “other liabilities” in the condensed consolidated balance sheets. Includes $3 million with affiliated entities as of both March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023.

As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the CIVs included derivative contracts with average notional amounts of $38 million and $41 million, respectively. Derivative instruments, which include forward foreign currency contracts, serve as a component of the CIVs’ investment strategies. The fair value of derivative contracts is reported in the “assets of CIVs” or “other liabilities” in the condensed consolidated balance sheets.
Noncontrolling Interest in CIVs

Noncontrolling interest (NCI) represents the portion of the consolidated funds not owned by the Company and includes ownership interests of third parties and former employees. The NCI is non-redeemable and presented on the statement of shareholders’ equity.

Other Consolidated VIEs

    In certain instances where the Company consolidates a VIE that was established as part of a loss mitigation negotiated settlement that results in the termination of the obligations under the original financial guaranty insurance or insured credit derivative contract, the Company classifies the assets and liabilities of that VIE in the line items that most accurately reflect the nature of such assets and liabilities, as opposed to within FG VIEs’ assets and FG VIEs’ liabilities. The largest of these VIEs had assets of $92 million and liabilities of $7 million as of December 31, 2023, which were reported in “investments” and “credit derivative liabilities” on the condensed consolidated balance sheets. In first quarter 2024, the Company deconsolidated the largest of these VIEs and recognized a $5 million gain on deconsolidation, which is included in “fair value gains (losses) on credit derivatives” in the condensed consolidated statements of operations.

Non-Consolidated VIEs

    As described in Note 3, Outstanding Exposure, the Company monitors all policies in the insured portfolio. Of the approximately 15 thousand policies monitored as of March 31, 2024, approximately 14 thousand policies are not within the scope of FASB ASC 810 because these financial guaranties relate to the debt obligations of governmental organizations or financing entities established by a governmental organization. The majority of the remaining policies involve transactions where the Company is not deemed to currently have control over the FG VIEs’ most significant activities. As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company identified 60 and 68 policies, respectively, that contain provisions and experienced events that may trigger consolidation.
    
The Company holds variable interests in VIEs which are not consolidated, as the Company is not the primary beneficiary. As of March 31, 2024, the Company’s maximum exposure to losses relating to these VIEs was $395 million.