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Statutory capital
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Statutory capital [Abstract]  
Statutory capital
17.
Statutory capital

Accounting Principles
 
The accounting principles used in determining statutory financial amounts differ from GAAP, primarily for the following reasons:

Under statutory accounting practices, mortgage guaranty insurance companies are required to maintain contingency loss reserves equal to 50% of premiums earned. Such amounts cannot be withdrawn for a period of ten years except as permitted by insurance regulations. With regulatory approval a mortgage guaranty insurance company may make early withdrawals from the contingency reserve when incurred losses exceed 35% of net premiums earned in a calendar year. Changes in contingency loss reserves impact the statutory statement of operations. Contingency loss reserves are not reflected as liabilities under GAAP and changes in contingency loss reserves do not impact GAAP operations. A premium deficiency reserve that may be recorded on a GAAP basis when present value of expected future losses and expenses exceeds the present value of expected future premiums and already established loss reserves, may not be recorded on a statutory basis if the present value of expected future premiums and already established loss reserves and statutory contingency reserves, exceeds the present value of expected future losses and expenses. On a GAAP basis, when calculating a premium deficiency reserve policies are grouped based on how they are acquired, serviced and measured. On a statutory basis, a premium deficiency reserve is calculated on all policies in force.

Under statutory accounting practices, insurance policy acquisition costs are charged against operations in the year incurred. Under GAAP, these costs are deferred and amortized as the related premiums are earned commensurate with the expiration of risk.

Under statutory accounting practices, purchases of tax and loss bonds are accounted for as investments. Under GAAP, purchases of tax and loss bonds are recorded as payments of current income taxes.

Under statutory accounting practices, changes in deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized as a separate component of gains and losses in statutory surplus. Under GAAP, changes in deferred tax assets and liabilities are recorded on the statement of operations as a component of the (benefit) provision for income tax.

Under statutory accounting practices, fixed maturity investments are generally valued at amortized cost. Under GAAP, those investments which we do not have the ability and intent to hold to maturity are considered to be available-for-sale and are recorded at fair value, with the unrealized gain or loss recognized, net of tax, as an increase or decrease to shareholders' equity.
 
Under statutory accounting practices, certain assets, including certain deferred tax assets, designated as non-admitted assets, are charged directly against statutory surplus. Such assets are reflected on the GAAP financial statements.

The statutory net income, surplus and the contingency reserve liability of the insurance subsidiaries (excluding the non-insurance subsidiaries of our parent company), as well as the surplus contributions made to MGIC and other insurance subsidiaries and dividends paid by MGIC to us, are included below. The surplus amounts included below are the combined surplus of our insurance operations as utilized in our risk-to-capital calculations.

Year Ended
 
Net (loss)
     
Contingency
 
December 31,
 
Income
  
Surplus
  
Reserve
 
   
(In thousands)
 
           
2011
 $(436,277) $1,657,349  $4,104 
2010
  113,651   1,692,392   5,480 
2009
  (44,669)  1,442,407   417,587 


Year Ended
December 31,
 
Additions to the surplus of MGIC from parent company funds
  
Additions to the surplus of other insurance subsidiaries from parent company funds
  
Dividends paid by MGIC to the parent company
 
   
(In thousands)
 
           
2011
 $200,000  $-  $- 
2010
  200,000   -   - 
2009
  -   -   - 

Statutory capital

The Office of the Commissioner of Insurance of Wisconsin is MGIC's principal insurance regulator. To assess a mortgage guaranty insurer's capital adequacy, Wisconsin's insurance regulations require that a mortgage guaranty insurance company maintain “policyholders position” of not less than a minimum computed under a formula. Policyholders position is the insurer's net worth or surplus, contingency reserve and a portion of the reserves for unearned premiums, with credit given for authorized reinsurance. The minimum required by the formula depends on the insurance in force and whether the loans insured are primary insurance or pool insurance and further depends on the LTV ratio of the individual loans and their coverage percentage (and in the case of pool insurance, the amount of any deductible). If a mortgage guaranty insurer does not meet MPP it may be prohibited from writing new business until its policyholders position meets the minimum.
 
Some states that regulate us have provisions that limit the risk-to-capital ratio of a mortgage guaranty insurance company to 25 to 1. This ratio is computed on a statutory basis for our insurance entities and is our net risk in force divided by our policyholders' position. Policyholders' position consists primarily of statutory policyholders' surplus, plus the statutory contingency reserve. The statutory contingency reserve is reported as a liability on the statutory balance sheet. A mortgage insurance company is required to make annual contributions to the contingency reserve of approximately 50% of net earned premiums. These contributions must generally be maintained for a period of ten years. However, with regulatory approval a mortgage insurance company may make early withdrawals from the contingency reserve when incurred losses exceed 35% of net earned premium in a calendar year. If an insurance company's risk-to-capital ratio exceeds the limit applicable in a state, it may be prohibited from writing new business in that state until its risk-to-capital ratio falls below the limit.

At December 31, 2011, MGIC exceeded MPP by approximately $185 million, and we exceeded MPP by approximately $249 million on a combined basis. At December 31, 2011 MGIC's risk-to-capital was 20.3 to 1 and was 22.2 to 1 on a combined basis. See Note 1 – “Nature of business – Capital” for a discussion of our capital plans.