The state’s Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) has waived, until Dec. 31, 2011, the requirement that MGIC maintain a specific level of minimum regulatory capital to write new mortgage guaranty policies.
Milwaukee-based MGIC Investment Corp.’s principal subsidiary Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. announced that the state’s Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) has waived, until Dec. 31, 2011, the requirement that MGIC maintain a specific level of minimum regulatory capital to write new mortgage guaranty policies.
The waiver is a further step in implementing the company’s plan to continue to write new business through a combination of MGIC and its wholly owned subsidiary, MGIC Indemnity Corp. (MIC).
The OCI also approved a change in MIC’s business plan under which MIC will write new business only in jurisdictions where MGIC does not meet minimum capital requirements similar to those waived by the OCI and does not obtain a waiver of those requirements from that jurisdiction’s regulatory authority.
In addition to Wisconsin, 16 other jurisdictions have such minimum capital requirements while the remaining jurisdictions in which MGIC does business do not have specific capital requirements applicable to mortgage insurers. The waiver may be modified, terminated, or extended by the OCI in its sole discretion.
Curt Culver, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of MGIC and MGIC Investment Corp., said the OCI’s actions are an important step in enabling the company to support the U.S. housing market by continuing to write new insurance on a nationwide basis. Culver said he appreciates the efforts of the OCI in reviewing and approving the revised business plan and the waiver.
As previously disclosed, Fannie Mae approved MIC as an eligible insurer through Dec. 31, 2011, in the jurisdictions in which MIC may write insurance under its changed business plan approved by the OCI. MGIC is still working with Freddie Mac to obtain approval of MIC as an eligible insurer.
