National Public Finance Guarantee Corporation (National), an indirect subsidiary of MBIA Inc.issued the following statement in response to the decision today by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) to downgrade its insurance financial strength rating to A with a Developing Outlook from AA- Credit Watch Developing.

“We regard today’s rating action as a temporary setback,” said Tom McLoughlin, National’s Chief Executive Officer. “National is a strong, well capitalized investment grade company, and it stands alone among its competitors as the only insurer dedicated exclusively to the U.S. public finance market with a large and diverse existing book of business and the full staff and infrastructure necessary to carry out its mission. We remain committed to the U.S. public finance market and plan to raise additional capital for National as soon as circumstances reasonably allow, with the goal of achieving the highest possible ratings over time to meet the municipal market’s demonstrable need for credit enhancement. National will vigorously contest the litigation that S&P references in its decision and is moving to dismiss the lawsuits as we believe they are baseless and directly challenge the approvals of the New York State Insurance Department.”