Fitch: MBIA Affirmed, Bond Issues Removed from Negative Watch

In contrast to competing rating agency Standard & Poor’s — who said today that it will review monline bond insurers for a second time — Fitch Ratings said late Wednesday that it had affirmed MBIA Insurance Corp. following a $1 billion surplus note offering. Fitch placed MBIA’s ‘AAA’ insurer financial strength (IFS) rating on negative rating watch last month following the rating agency’s updated assessment into MBIA’s current exposure to CDOs backed by subprime mortgage collateral and various CDO-squared transactions, as well as the guarantor’s exposure to RMBS. The affirmation at MBIA also led to a similar affirmation and removal of 172,979 bond issues (172,817 municipal, 156 corporate and six emerging market issues) insured by MBIA from a negative ratings watch, Fitch said in a seperate statement. For more information, visit http://www.fitchratings.com.