Patrick McGee

DORAL, Fla. — An Obama administration official last week said the underwriting fees for Build America Bonds are coming down, and the expectation is that if the subsidized taxable borrowing program was made permanent, they would come down further.

Ambac Financial Group Inc. failed to provide fourth-quarter earnings or its year-end 10-K filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. It attributed the delay to ongoing discussions with financial institution counterparties regarding the obligations of the company and its subsidiaries.

Rockfleet Financial Services Inc. opened the doors of its new municipal securities broker-dealer business in Manhattan last week. Staffed by a team of six veterans and led by chief executive officer Catherine Corrigan, the newly registered firm has ambitious goals to provide an array of services, nationwide, to the municipal market.

Ambac Financial Group Inc. will not release its fourth-quarter results until March 16, but earlier this week its principal subsidiary posted to its Web site an annual report that gives an idea of where things stood at year-end. The results aren’t too promising.

Syncora Guarantee Inc. on Tuesday reported its statutory surplus declined to $99.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2009, down from $181.8 million in the third quarter.

Despite ongoing litigation, less than stellar ratings and continued losses on structured finance products, MBIA Inc. managed to post positive net income last year.

MBIA Inc. posted a net loss to shareholders in the fourth quarter, but gains from insured credit derivatives helped its net income rise for the year despite continued losses in the mortgage market.

Municipal bond insurer Berkshire Hathaway Assurance Corp. garnered little attention in Warren Buffett’s annual letter to the shareholders of parent company Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Assured Guaranty Ltd. posted record profits in 2009 as its fourth-quarter earnings handily beat estimates.

The bifurcation in the municipal market continued in February as tax-exempt debt issuance slumped compared to last year, but total issuance moved higher as a result of taxable Build America Bonds.

Assured Guaranty Ltd., the holding company of the two principal players in the bond insurance industry, on Thursday announced fourth-quarter 2009 operating income of $155.9 million, way up from $3.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Health care financing veteran Anne S. Morse joined the growing public finance team at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC last week, it was announced Thursday.

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.

Despite volatility in Treasuries, municipal yields ended firmer yesterday as Maryland sold $595 million of general obligation bonds in the new-issue market.

Radian Group Inc., the Philadelphia-based parent of municipal bond insurer Radian Asset Assurance Inc., yesterday reported a smaller fourth-quarter 2009 net loss than anticipated, pushing its stock higher.

This year will be a pivotal one for for municipal bond insurers, but so far the outlook is negative, Moody’s Investors Service said in an industry outlook released yesterday.

In the past seven days, two separate courts in New York rejected MBIA Inc.'s motions to dismiss lawsuits alleging its February 2009 restructuring was an intentionally fraudulent action and a breach of good faith that hurt policyholders.

Rob Taylor was promoted to become head of public finance at Barclays Capital, sources at the bank confirmed Wednesday. In his new role Taylor will report to Eric Felder, head of credit trading. He will be working alongside Steve Milano, head of the municipal syndicate desk, and Peter Coleman, head of municipal trading.

CIFG and its family of financial guaranty companies are no longer graded by any of the rating agencies, since Standard & Poor's withdrew its CC rating at the company's request on Tuesday.

Rob Taylor was promoted to become head of public finance at Barclays Capital, sources at the bank confirmed Wednesday.