S&P puts pressure on monolines

The financial guaranty business is under severe pressure after Standard & Poor's (S&P) cut the rating on New York-based monoline ACA Capital to CCC from A on December 19. At the same time, the rating agency put five other monolines on negative watch - Ambac Assurance, Financial Guaranty Insurance, MBIA Insurance, XL Capital Assurance and XL Financial Assurance. CIFG Financial Guaranty had been placed on negative watch in June. The actions come after worsening expectations for the performance of