Wachovia starts new monoline guarantor

Wachovia Corp. has created a new financial re-insurer, named BluePoint Re, designed to strengthen its relationships with the financial insurance industry. BluePoint will re-insure the exposure of monoline guarantors' exposure to both structured and municipal finance. Former Creditex CEO John McEvoy was named CEO of BluePoint, with former FSA ABS head Dan Farrell as president. BluePoint was initially funded with $300 million and Wachovia will not pay a dividend from any retained earnings or capital from BluePoint Re for at least five years. "Wachovia can now provide additional financial guaranty capacity to its clients and strengthen its ties to the primary insurers," the company stated in a release. BluePoint has received an Aa3 rating from Moody's Investor Service and 'AA' from Standard & Poor's, respectively.