Ambac Financial Group Inc. last week named Gregory Raab chief risk officer, which puts him in charge of managing the company's $430 billion in net par outstanding.
Coming to Ambac from General Electric Co., Raab takes over the CRO position from David Wallis, who last October became president and chief executive officer of the company. He will be a member of the executive management team and oversee Ambac's credit, surveillance, and capital planning and risk analysis departments.
Ambac in February reported a net loss for the fourth quarter of $2.3 billion, and a net loss for all of 2008 of $5.6 billion. Shares of Ambac have fallen to $0.38 well below the all-time high of $96.10 in May of 2007.
"Greg's strategic, analytical, and business experience will enhance our management team and overall organizational perspective," Wallis said in a statement. "De-risking our portfolio is one of our key strategic initiatives. Greg's leadership will support our aggressive remediation and commutation agenda while building a risk-centric culture that will harness the lessons learned from the current environment to rebuild and reinvent our business around our core strengths."
