Assured Guaranty Corp. Appoints Shailesh Deshpande and Jorge Gana as D

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    NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 9, 2005--Assured Guaranty Corp. (AGC), a subsidiary of Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO), is pleased to announce the appointment of Shailesh Deshpande and Jorge Gana as Directors in AGC's Asset-Backed Securities and Mortgage Group. Both Mr. Deshpande and Mr. Gana will focus on commercial asset securitization and report to Chris Mortello, Managing Director of Asset- and Mortgage-Backed Securities.
    Shailesh Deshpande joins AGC from XL Capital Assurance (XLCA), where he was a Director of Global Commercial Asset Securitization and a senior transaction specialist in charge of originating, structuring, negotiating and closing credit-enhanced asset-backed transactions. He has expertise in a variety of asset classes including operating assets, floor plan financing, trade receivables, equipment leasing, small business credit cards, conduit programs and several emerging asset classes. Mr. Deshpande was at Bayerische Hypo-Und Vereinsbank prior to joining XLCA.
    Prior to AGC, Jorge Gana was a Director of Global Commercial Asset Securitization at XLCA. As a senior transactor and team leader, he was responsible for originating and structuring asset-backed loans and securities, with a focus on commercial asset securitization globally, including equipment leasing, trade receivables, floor plan financing, operating assets, time-shares, CapCo programs, Small Business Administration loans, franchise finance, aircraft, intellectual property, and program-wide credit enhancement for commercial paper conduits. Prior to his position at XLCA, he worked at Natexis Banques Populaires as Vice President in the Structured Finance Group.
    Stephen Donnarumma, Managing Director of the Asset-Backed Securities and Mortgage Group commented, "AGC's ABS and Mortgage Group is well positioned to become a leading player in the credit enhancement market. The expertise in commercial asset securitization that Shailesh and Jorge bring to our underwriting team will strengthen our ability to compete in this market."
    AGC is a leading provider of financial guaranty insurance in the U.S. and international public finance, structured finance and mortgage-backed securities markets. AGC's underwriting experience combined with its financial strength make it the innovative financial guaranty partner of choice for issuers, investors and broker/dealers.
    Assured Guaranty Ltd. is a Bermuda-based holding company. Its operating subsidiaries provide credit enhancement products to the U.S. and international public finance, structured finance and mortgage markets. More information can be found at http://www.assuredguaranty.com.
    Any forward-looking statements made in this press release reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events and financial performance and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in these statements. For example, the forward-looking statements concerning potential business in the mortgage and ABS credit enhancement markets could be affected by demand, competition and regulatory action. The forward looking statements also could be affected by rating agency action such as a ratings downgrade, difficulties with the execution of the business strategy, developments in the world's financial and capital markets, more severe losses or more frequent losses associated with products affecting the adequacy of the company's loss reserve, changes in tax laws, loss of key personnel, changes in accounting policies or practices, and changes in general economic conditions, as well as management's response to these factors, and other risk factors identified in Assured Guaranty Ltd.'s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates on which they are made. Assured Guaranty Ltd. undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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CONTACT: Assured Guaranty Ltd., Hamilton Equity Investors and Media Sabra Purtill, 212-408-6044 or 441-278-6665 spurtill@assuredguaranty.com or Christopher McNamee, 212-261-5509 cmcnamee@assuredguaranty.com or Fixed Income Investors Patrick Early, 212-408-6043 pearly@assuredguaranty.com

KEYWORD: NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL LATIN AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: INSURANCE BANKING MANAGEMENT CHANGES SOURCE: Assured Guaranty Ltd.

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