Mbia Inc 's

Our insurance companies compete with other monoline insurance companies, as well as other forms of credit enhancement, in writing financial guarantee business. We anticipate that for the foreseeable future virtually all of our new insurance business will be written through National in the U.S. public finance sector.
Our ability to attract and compete for U.S. public finance financial guarantee business is largely dependent on the financial strength ratings assigned to National by the rating agencies. National is seeking rating upgrades from the rating agencies and believes its current ratings do not fully represent the financial strength of National when compared with other companies in its industry. We expect to achieve high stable ratings for National that would be necessary to support writing new business, but there is no assurance that we will be able to achieve such ratings and the timing of such rating upgrades is uncertain.

There are currently two other bond insurers actively engaged in the U.S. public finance insurance market, one of which was established in 2012. We have observed increased competition for business among the active financial guarantors, and opportunities to write new business with attractive returns may be limited. In addition, the percentage of new public finance issuances with a financial guarantee has decreased significantly since the financial crisis, and the inability of financial guarantee insurers to maintain or achieve high ratings could diminish acceptance of the product and enhance the appeal of other forms of credit enhancement.

Financial guarantee insurance competes with other forms of credit enhancement. Commercial banks provide letters of credit as a means of credit enhancement for municipal securities. In 2013, the use of letters of credit as an alternative to financial guarantee insurance within the U.S. municipal market was far below its peak in 2009; however, letters of credit have remained a presence in the market. Direct lending by banks to municipal issuers also reduces demand for credit enhancement. Other highly rated institutions, including pension funds and government sponsored entities, also offer third-party credit enhancement on municipal obligations. Financial guarantee insurance and other forms of credit enhancement also compete in nearly all instances with the issuer’s alternative of foregoing credit enhancement and paying a higher interest rate. If the interest savings from insurance or another form of credit enhancement are not greater than the cost of such credit enhancement, the issuer will generally choose to issue bonds without third-party enhancement. All of these alternative forms of credit enhancement or alternative executions could also affect our ability to write new business with attractive returns.

We expect that MBIA Corp.’s credit ratings will continue to constrain its ability to write new business in the near term. It continues to be uncertain as to how or when the Company may re-engage in the structured finance and international insurance markets.