Build America Mutual Assurance Company announced Wednesday that the California Department of Insurance has licensed BAM to operate in the Golden State.
In addition, the bond insurer has been licensed to operate in 14 more states since its
"We view our California licensing as an important milestone in building our business," said Seán McCarthy, managing director and chief executive officer of BAM. "The state of California represents a significant portion of municipal volume, and we are ready immediately to serve California issuers out of our Western Regional office in San Francisco headed by Sheelagh Flanagan."
With the addition of California, BAM is now licensed in 27 states and the District of Columbia. The other states are Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
BAM is also permitted to write business in many other jurisdictions throughout the United States, subject to fulfilling certain conditions.
"Our goal is to be licensed nationwide, and we believe we intend to achieve that over the next several months," said McCarthy. "In the interim, our progress to date should permit us to significantly expand our business."
BAM, the first municipal bond mutual insurer, is based in New York and is sponsored by the National League of Cities. The company launched in July and insured its first bond issue in September. Standard & Poor's assigns the company an AA rating with a stable outlook.
