Financial Guaranty Insurance Company is understood to be looking at credit enhancement opportunities in Argentina, according to industry sources.
The triple-A rated monoline would be in direct competition there with MBIA, which now dominates the market for triple-A guarantees in Latin American securitization.
"There's not a specific deal that we're working on," a spokewoman for FGIC in New York said. "We would provide credit enhancement to any transaction that met our conservative criteria," in Latin America or any other country, she noted.
Indeed, of the three triple-A rated monolines active in the structured finance market currently, FGIC is widely known as the most conservative, insuring mainly traditional asset types in the U.S. and Europe.
As a result, the monoline has not enhanced a Latin securitization to date. But of any Latin country, Argentina, with its currency linked to the dollar and a strong securitization framework, may present the most attractive opportunities right now. - JB
