MGIC Provides Update on MIC
03 Août 2009 - 1:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
MILWAUKEE, Aug. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mortgage Guaranty
Insurance Corporation ("MGIC") today announced that, in connection
with discussions to have its wholly owned subsidiary MGIC Indemnity
Corporation ("MIC") approved as an eligible mortgage insurer by
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, MGIC has delayed the date on which it
plans to make its first contribution of capital to MIC to a date to
be determined by MGIC and acceptable to the Office of the
Commissioner of Insurance of Wisconsin ("OCI"). The OCI has
approved this delay at MGIC's request. In addition, as discussed
below, MGIC expects the amount of capital to be contributed to MIC
by MGIC will be reduced. As previously announced, in connection
with a plan for MIC to begin writing new mortgage insurance
business as of January 1, 2010, the OCI allowed MGIC to contribute
up to $1 billion to MIC. MGIC's contribution was to be made in two
$500 million installments, the first of which was to be made not
later than July 31, 2009. The second contribution was to be made
within five business days after January 1, 2011 if MIC was then
writing new business and the contribution was not disallowed by the
OCI. MIC's writing new business is subject to the specific
authorization of the OCI. The plan to use MIC to write new business
was driven by MGIC's concern that in the future MGIC might not meet
regulatory capital requirements to continue to write new business.
These requirements are present in certain states while other
jurisdictions do not have specific capital requirements. It is
possible that as part of obtaining GSE approval of MIC as an
eligible mortgage insurer, MIC would write new business in certain
states and MGIC would continue to write new business in the
remaining jurisdictions. If this structure were implemented, the
amount of capital needed by MIC to write new business would be less
than what it would need if it wrote business in all jurisdictions.
As a result, MGIC would reduce its contribution of capital to MIC.
The amount of capital that MGIC would contribute to MIC will be
determined as part of the discussions with GSEs on their approving
MIC as an eligible mortgage insurer. These discussions are ongoing
and include alternatives other than MIC writing new business in
certain states and MGIC continuing to write new business in the
remaining jurisdictions. In addition, TARP or other governmental
funding could be alternatives to MIC. About MGIC MGIC
(http://www.mgic.com/), the principal subsidiary of MGIC Investment
Corporation, is the nation's leading provider of private mortgage
insurance coverage with $220.1 billion primary insurance in force
covering 1.4 million mortgages as of June 30, 2009. MGIC serves
over 3,300 lenders with locations across the country, Puerto Rico,
and other locations helping families achieve homeownership sooner
by making affordable low-down-payment mortgages a reality. Safe
Harbor Statement Forward Looking Statements and Risk Factors: Our
plans to write business in MIC could be affected by the risk
factors below and the other risk factors filed with our periodic
reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risk
factors should be reviewed in connection with this press release
and our periodic reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
These risk factors may also cause future events to differ
materially from the forward looking statements that we may make.
Forward looking statements consist of statements which relate to
matters other than historical fact, including matters that
inherently refer to future events. Among others, statements that
include words such as we "believe", "anticipate" or "expect", words
such as we or another party "will" or words of similar import, are
forward looking statements. We are not undertaking any obligation
to update any forward looking statements or other statements we may
make even though these statements may be affected by events or
circumstances occurring after the forward looking statements or
other statements were made. No investor should rely on the fact
that such statements are current at any time other than the time at
which this press release was issued. We may not be able to execute
our plan to write business in an MGIC subsidiary. We cannot predict
whether we will be successful in obtaining approval from the GSEs
for MIC or for MGIC to implement any alternative structure that
would enable MGIC to continue to write new mortgage insurance if in
the future MGIC did not meet regulatory capital requirements to
continue to write new business. Even if such approvals are
obtained, we cannot predict the conditions on which they may be
given. In addition, the authorization of the OCI will be needed for
any changes regarding MIC. Any capital relief that could be made
available through TARP or other external sources could dilute
substantially the interest of existing shareholders and could also
have additional costs. We cannot predict whether any source of
external capital will be available to us. MGIC may not continue to
meet the GSEs' mortgage insurer eligibility requirements. The
majority of our insurance written is for loans sold to Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac, each of which has mortgage insurer eligibility
requirements. As result of MGIC's financial strength rating being
below Aa3/AA, it is operating with each GSE as an eligible insurer
under a remediation plan. We believe that the GSEs view remediation
plans as a continuing process of interaction between a mortgage
insurer and the GSE that continues until the mortgage insurer under
the remediation plan once again has a rating of at least Aa3/AA.
There can be no assurance that MGIC will be able to continue to
operate as an eligible mortgage insurer under a remediation plan.
If MGIC ceases being eligible to insure loans purchased by one or
both of the GSEs, it would significantly reduce the volume of our
new business writings. DATASOURCE: MGIC Investment Corporation
CONTACT: Investors, Michael J. Zimmerman, +1-414-347-6596, , or
Media, Katie Monfre, +1-414-347-2650, , both of MGIC Investment
Corporation Web Site: http://www.mgic.com/
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