Ascending Markets Financial Guarantee Corporation (Amf)

Ascending Markets Financial Guarantee Corporation (AMF), formerly known as Affinity MacroFinance, is a development-stage emerging market-focused financial guarantor formed to capitalize on the large demand for highly rated debt in developing nation bond and bank loan markets. AMF will focus on guarantees for debt obligations of sound development projects in infrastructure, health care, education and other essential public services, along with selected private sector obligations that have significant beneficial public impact. It will provide credit enhancement to “national scale” AAA for local currency debt (or to “global scale” A+ for foreign currency debt). AMF is an outgrowth of the emerging markets experience of the now largely dormant U.S. monoline guarantors. While never constituting a large proportion of their portfolios, developing nations represented a very profitable line of business for the monolines, with high premiums and a very low loss experience. AMF’s highly experienced staff was recruited from the emerging markets teams of the monolines, international banks and rating agencies. AMF’s business concept won first-prize honors in March 2010 at the Marketplace in Innovative Finance, sponsored by the World Bank, the Gates Foundation and Agence Française de Développement. It has received an indicative rating of A+ from Global Credit Ratings. It is currently finalizing its capital raise from leading development finance institutions and private sector organizations.