Wednesday, February 24, 2010 By Patrick McGee

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Fitch Ratings withdrew the insurer financial strength and debt ratings of Assured Guaranty Ltd. and its subsidiaries at the company’s request late Wednesday. Fitch no longer rates any of the bond guarantors.

Through its two subsidiaries, Assured Guaranty Corp. and Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp., Assured backed $34.8 billion of municipal debt last year, or 98.2% of the insured market, according to Thomson Reuters.

The majority of business was performed by AGC which Fitch rated AA-minus before today’s announcement. AGM had been rated one notch higher at AA.

Dominic Frederico, Assured’s president and chief executive officer, said the company’s request was a result of Fitch’s Oct. 19 announcement that it was withdrawing the financial strength ratings on all insured bonds for which it does not provide an underlying rating on the issuer.

“As Fitch’s action withdrew the bond insurer ratings on approximately 90% of issuers in AGC’s and AGM’s combined insured portfolio, we believe the ratings no longer provide the same value to investors in our insured transactions,” he said in a statement.

“If, in the future, Fitch’s participation in the municipal bond market should expand significantly, we would certainly consider renewing our relationship with them.”

Both bond insurers are rated Aa3 with a negative outlook by Moody’s Investors Service and triple-A with a negative outlook by Standard & Poor’s.