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Employment Benefit Plans (Notes)
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Outstanding, Weighted Average Exercise Price [Abstract]  
Compensation and Employee Benefit Plans [Text Block]
15. EMPLOYMENT BENEFIT PLANS
Postretirement Health Care and Other Benefits
Ambac provides postretirement and postemployment / severance benefits, including health and life benefits for certain employees who meet predefined age and service requirements. None of the plans are currently funded. Postretirement and postemployment benefits expense, including severance benefits paid, were $1, $3 and $1 for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
Effective August 1, 2005, new employees were not eligible for postretirement benefits. The current postretirement benefit requires retirees to purchase their own medical insurance policy with a portion of their premium being reimbursed by Ambac. The unfunded accumulated postretirement benefit obligation was $10 as of December 31, 2020. The assumed health care cost trend rates range from 5.2% in 2021, decreasing ratably to 4.5% in 2030.
The following table sets forth projected benefit payments from Ambac’s postretirement plan over the next ten years for current retirees:
2021$— 
2022— 
2023— 
2024— 
20251 
2025-20293 
Total$5 

The discount rate used in determining the projected benefit obligations for the postretirement plan is selected by reference to a pension liability index with similar duration to that of the benefit plan. The rates used for the projected plan benefit obligations at the measurement date for December 31, 2020 and 2019, were 2.25% and 3.00%, respectively.
Savings Incentive Plan
Substantially all employees of AAC are covered by a defined contribution plan (the “Savings Incentive Plan”). AAC makes employer matching contributions equal to 100% of the employees’ contributions, up to 3% of such participants’ compensation, as defined in the plan, plus 50% of contributions up to an additional 2% of compensation, subject to limits set by the Internal Revenue Code. The total cost of the Savings Incentive Plan was $1, $1 and $1 for the years December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
Incentive Compensation - Stock Units and Cash
Incentive compensation is a key component of our compensation strategy. Our incentive compensation awards generally have two components: short term incentive compensation awards ("STIP") and long term incentive plan awards ("LTIP"). Annual decisions with regard to incentive compensation are generally made in the first quarter of each year and are based on Company performance and individual and business unit performance of the previous year. In addition to the stock based awards discussed below, Ambac's incentive compensation includes cash payments which may consist of annual awards under the STIP, deferred payments that vest over two years or other performance based cash awards. For all employees, an allocation of incentive compensation is made between STIP and LTIP awards.
Employees, directors and consultants of Ambac are eligible to participate in Ambac’s 2020 Incentive Compensation Plan (“2020 Plan”), which is the successor plan to the 2013 Incentive Compensation Plan ("2013 Plan"), subject to the discretion of the compensation committee of Ambac’s Board of Directors.
The 2020 Plan and 2013 Plan each provide for incentives and rewards that are valued or determined by reference to Ambac common stock as currently traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Beginning with the June 2, 2020, effective date (the "Effective Date") of the 2020 Plan, all new awards are granted under the 2020 Plan and may not be granted under the 2013 Plan. However, the terms and conditions of the 2013 Plan continue to govern outstanding awards granted under the 2013 Plan. There are 1,475,000 and 4,000,000 shares of Ambac's common stock authorized for issuance that can be awarded under the 2020 Plan and 2013 Plan, respectively. Awards may also be made under the 2020 Plan with respect to the shares that, as of the Effective Date, remained available for grant under the 2013 Plan. In addition, shares subject to outstanding awards granted under the 2013 Plan as of the Effective Date that subsequently terminate by expiration or forfeiture, cancellation, or otherwise without the issuance of such shares will become available for awards under the 2020 Plan. Of the total shares authorized for issuance pursuant to the 2020 Plan and 2013 Plan, 2,096,292 shares are available for future grant as of December 31, 2020. Shares available for future grant are reduced by the maximum number of shares that could be issued pursuant to outstanding performance awards. The number of shares available for future grant considering the target number of shares instead of the maximum number of shares related to performance awards is 3,058,603.
The amount of stock-based compensation expense and corresponding after-tax expense are as follows:
Year Ended
December 31,
202020192018
Stock options
$— $— $— 
Restricted stock units
3 4 6 
Performance awards 8 8 6 
Total stock-based compensation
$11 $12 $12 
Total stock-based compensation (after-tax)
$11 $12 $12 
Stock Options
Stock options were awarded in 2013 to directors that had an expiry term of seven years from the grant date, subject to earlier expiration upon the recipient's departure from the Company. A summary of stock option activity for 2020 is as follows:
SharesWeighted
Average
Exercise
Price		Aggregate
Intrinsic
Value		Weighted
Average
Remaining
Contractual
Life
(in years)
Outstanding at beginning of period16,667 $20.63 
Granted
— — 
Exercised
— — 
Forfeited or expired
(16,667)20.63 
Outstanding at end of period
— $— $— 0.00
Exercisable
— $— $— 0.00
No stock options were exercised during the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.
Restricted Stock Units (“RSUs”)
RSUs have been awarded to certain employees for a portion of their STIP compensation, LTIP compensation, sign-on, special awards for exceptional performance. RSUs have also been awarded to consultants for meeting certain contractual performance goals. The previously issued STIP awards vested upon grant, but settlement was deferred (other than for employment tax withholdings) into two equal installments generally on the first and second anniversary date of the grant. The LTIP, sign-on and special awards generally vest in equal installments over a two to three year period. Awards granted to consultants vest on the second year anniversary of date of grant. Such vesting is expressly conditioned upon the respective employees or non-employees continued service with Ambac through the applicable vesting date, although vesting is accelerated for terminations due to death, disability, eligible retirement, or involuntary termination by the Ambac other than for cause.
RSUs have been awarded annually to directors and vest on the last day of April of the following year. These RSUs will not settle until the respective director’s termination from the board of directors or, if earlier, upon a change in control. All RSUs provide for accelerated vesting upon a change in control, death or disability or involuntary removal other than for cause (not including removal pursuant to a shareholder vote at a regularly scheduled annual meeting of shareholders). Upon termination (other than for cause), the unvested RSUs shall partially vest as of the date of such termination in an amount equal to the number of then outstanding unvested RSUs multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the number of calendar days which have lapsed since the grant date and the denominator of which shall be the total number of calendar days of the original vesting period.
As of December 31, 2020, 773,657 RSUs remained outstanding, of which (i) 345,302 units required future service as a condition to the delivery of the underlying shares of common stock and (ii) 428,355 units do not require future service and are deferred for future settlement. As of December 31, 2019, 702,579 RSUs remained outstanding, of which (i) 248,942 units required future service as a condition to the delivery of the underlying shares of common stock, and (ii) 453,637 units did not require future service and were deferred for future settlement.
A summary of RSU activity for 2020 is as follows:
Shares
Weighted Average
Grant Date
Fair Value
Outstanding at beginning of period702,579 $18.19 
Granted297,517 17.36 
Delivered or returned to plan (1)
(224,829)17.59 
Forfeited(1,610)19.19 
Outstanding at end of period773,657 $18.04 
(1)    When restricted stock unit awards issued by Ambac become taxable compensation to employees, shares may be withheld to
cover the employee’s withholding taxes. For the year ended December 31, 2020, Ambac purchased 85,654 of shares from employees that settled restricted stock units to meet the required tax withholdings.
Ambac’s closing share price on the grant date was used to estimate the fair value of the service condition based RSU on the grant date. The weighted average grant date fair value of RSUs granted during 2020, 2019 and 2018 was $17.36, $19.75 and $16.35, respectively. As of December 31, 2020, there was $4 of total unrecognized compensation costs related to unvested RSUs granted. These costs are expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.6 years. The fair value for RSUs vested and delivered during the year ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 was $4, $4 and $1, respectively.
Performance Stock Awards ("PSUs")
Performance awards granted vest in 3 years and awards have components relative to performance at AFG and AAC. Actual awards can payout 0% to 220% of the number of units granted. Under currently outstanding award agreements, performance will be evaluated as follows:
•AFG performance will be evaluated relative to cumulative earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization over the vesting period (exclusive of AAC and its subsidiaries' earnings), which is intended to reward participants for generating pre-tax income.
•AAC performance will be evaluated according to: (i) changes in AAC's assets relative to its insurance and financial obligations, which is intended to reward participants for increases in the relative value of AAC, and (ii) reductions in watch list and adversely classified credits, which is intended to reward participants for de-risking the financial guarantee insured portfolio.
•In 2019, a relative Total Shareholder Return modifier was added as an additional metric with respect to the LTIP award payouts. The modifier will cause the payout at the end of the performance period to be increased or decreased by 10% if AFG's stock performance compared to a peer group is at or above the 75th percentile or at or below the 25th percentile, respectively.
These performance metrics are subject to change by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors as Ambac's business evolves.
Other than voluntary termination or involuntary termination for cause, and provided that the participant meets certain minimum service requirements, the performance awards are subject to either partial or accelerated vesting. The current performance awards shall be settled within 75 days after the end of the performance period, including those with partial or accelerated vesting.
A summary of PSU activity for 2020 is as follows:
Shares
Weighted Average
Grant Date
Fair Value
Outstanding at beginning of period650,212 $17.98 
Granted (1)
331,184 19.99 
Delivered (2)
(184,896)22.35 
Forfeited(6,071)18.00 
Performance adjustment (3)
54,085 22.35 
Outstanding at end of period844,514 $18.09 
(1)    Represents performance share units at 100% of units granted for LTIP Awards.
(2)    Reflects the number of performance shares attributable to the performance goals attained over the completed performance period and for which service conditions have been met. When performance stock unit awards issued by Ambac become taxable compensation to employees, shares may be withheld to cover the employee’s withholding taxes. For the year ended December 31, 2020, Ambac purchased 70,340 of shares from employees that settled performance based restricted stock units to meet the required tax withholdings.
(3)    Represents the increase (decrease) in shares issued for awards granted in 2017 based upon the attainment of performance metrics at the end of the performance period.
As of December 31, 2020, there was $6 of total unrecognized compensation costs related to the PSU portion of unvested performance awards, which are expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.7 years.