On May 6, monoline insurer Assured Guaranty Ltd. announced a $358 million settlement with UBS and its affiliates stemming from losses on residential mortgage-backed securities that were issued, sponsored or underwriten by UBS. Assured sued UBS in 2012 in federal court in New York alleging material misrepresentations and omissions concerning the quality of loans underlying the securitizations at issue that it insured. The settlement terminates all pending RMBS litigation between UBS and Assured. Under the terms of the settlement, the parties will also enter into a collateralized loss-sharing reinsurance agreement whereby UBS will compensate Assured for 85 percent of Assured’s future losses on the securitizations at issue in the litigation. Press Release. SEC Filing.
Assured Guaranty Ltd.
Assured Guaranty Announces Settlement with Bank of America on Reps and Warranties Action Involving 29 RMBS Deals
On April 15, 2011, Bank of America and Assured Guaranty Ltd. (“Assured”) announced that they had reached a settlement regarding the Bank’s liabilities with respect to 29 RMBS transactions insured by Assured Guaranty, including liabilities relating to Assured’s allegations of breaches of representations and warranties and historical loan servicing issues. Assured reports that Bank of America and its Countrywide subsidiaries agreed to pay Assured $1.1 billion and entered into a reinsurance arrangement that will reimburse Assured for 80% of all paid losses on the 21 of the 29 offerings that were first lien RMBS transactions until aggregate collateral losses in those transactions exceed $6.6 billion. The 29 RMBS offerings in the settlement cover all securitizations insured by Assured that were sponsored by Bank of America and Countrywide and certain additional securitizations backed by specific concentrations of Countrywide-originated loans. Assured 8k. Bank of America Release.