ACA Financial Guaranty Corporation

New York Appellate Court Upholds ACA’s Fraud Suit Against Goldman Sachs

On August 18, 2015, the New York Appellate Division’s First Department held that ACA Financial Guaranty Corp. adequately pled its fraud suit against Goldman Sachs Group Inc.  A four-judge panel held that ACA sufficiently alleged that Goldman Sachs’ allegedly false statements about hedge fund Paulson & Co.’s short position on the Abacus collateralized debt obligation transaction were material, that the statements were made with the requisite intent, and that ACA would not have provided the financial guaranty for the deal had it known the truth.  The case had been remanded from the New York Court of Appeals, which had overturned the First Department’s prior decision to grant Goldman Sachs’ motion to dismiss.  Order.

Orrick Alert: Following Chapter 9 Plan, Monoline Insurer Must Continue to Make Payments on Old Bonds

Earlier this month, Judge Judith J. Gische of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Judicial Department found that ACA Financial Guaranty Corporation, as bond insurer, must make future, post-confirmation principal and interest payments on municipal bonds issued pre-bankruptcy.  The Court required these payments despite the fact that the bonds were exchanged for new bonds and cancelled under the municipality’s chapter 9 plan.  This decision is an unequivocal win for holders of distressed municipal bonds wrapped by monoline insurance policies and makes clear that insurers must continue to extend coverage to bondholders after a municipal issuer files for chapter 9 and obtains a discharge of the bond debt in bankruptcy.  This outcome may impact negotiations and potential resolutions in Detroit’s chapter 9 case and other recent municipal bankruptcies and distressed scenarios, such as Puerto Rico.  To read the entire Orrick Alert, please click here.

Court Finds ACA Financial Guaranty Must Back Pre-Bankruptcy Bonds

Earlier this month, Judge Judith J. Gische of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Judicial Department found that ACA Financial Guaranty Corporation, as bond insurer, must make future, post-confirmation principal and interest payments on bonds issued pre-bankruptcy by a municipal issuer despite the fact that the bonds were exchanged for new bonds and cancelled under the municipality’s chapter 9 plan.  The Court required ACA to make these payments because “neither the plan of debt adjustment nor the discharge of the bond debt in the bankruptcy proceeding changed the obligations under the parties’ contracts of insurance.”  The insurance policies at issue were governed by New York law.  This decision makes clear that monoline insurers must continue to extend coverage to bondholders after a municipal issuer files for chapter 9 and obtains a discharge of the bond debt in bankruptcy.  See Oppenheimer Amt-Free Municipals v. ACA Fin. Guar. Corp., 2013 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5688 (N.Y. App. Div. 1st Dep’t Sept. 3, 2013).