Published:
Syncora Holdings Ltd. Announces Four New Appointments to its Board of Directors
HAMILTON, Bermuda, Nov. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Syncora Holdings Ltd.
("Syncora" or the "Company") (NYSE: SCA) today announced the appointment of
Mssrs. Duncan P. Hennes, Edward J. Muhl, Thomas S. Norsworthy, and Robert J.
White to its Board of Directors in connection with the transfer on November
18, 2008 of 30,069,049 Syncora shares, previously owned by XL Capital Ltd, to
a Trust pursuant to the Master Commutation Release and Restructuring
Agreement, dated July 28, 2008. The shares are being held in the Trust for
the benefit of Syncora Guarantee Inc. ("Syncora Guarantee") until such time as
an agreement between Syncora Guarantee and a consortium of Syncora Guarantee's
credit default swap and financial guarantee counterparties (the "Financial
Counterparties") is reached and thereafter the shares will be held for the
benefit of the Financial Counterparties, or as otherwise provided in the Deed
of Trust.
"The new appointees bring a wealth of restructuring, insurance regulatory
and reinsurance expertise to our Board of Directors. Their collective
expertise and insights will be extremely valuable as we continue our
negotiations with the financial counterparties and execute the next phase of
our restructuring," said Susan Comparato, Acting Chief Executive Officer and
General Counsel of Syncora.
The Director appointments were agreed upon by Syncora and the bank
consortium and all four are independent Directors. Mssrs. Hennes and Muhl are
Class I Directors and members of the Finance and Risk Oversight Committee.
Mr. Norsworthy is a Class II Director and member of the Compensation
Committee. Mr. White is a Class III Director and a member of the Audit
Committee. With these appointments, Syncora's Board of Directors will have
nine members.
Duncan P. Hennes, 52, has nearly 30 years of financial services management
experience. He is currently a co-founder and partner of Atrevida Partners, an
alternative asset manager. Prior to founding Atrevida Partners, Hennes was a
co-founder and partner of Promontory Financial Group. He is the former Chief
Executive Officer of Soros Fund Management. Earlier in his career, Hennes
spent 12 years at Bankers Trust Company. While at Bankers Trust, he was
Chairman of the Board of Oversight Partners I, the consortium that took
control of Long Term Capital Management. Hennes has a B.S., summa cum laude,
and M.B.A. with Distinction from the Wharton School at the University of
Pennsylvania.
Edward J. Muhl, 63, is currently the owner and chief executive of an
insurance, reinsurance and legislative consulting firm. He has over 40 years
of experience in the insurance industry in both the private and public sector.
He has served in a regulatory capacity in two states, as Commissioner of
Insurance for theState of Maryland and as Superintendent of Insurance for the
State of New York, and has also held the position of President of the National
Association of Insurance Commissioners. Mr. Muhl is a former Partner and
National Leader of PricewaterhouseCoopers Insurance Regulatory and Compliance
Practice and has extensive experience as a board member of insurance
companies, currently serving on the Board of Directors of Farm Family
Insurance Company, Columbian Financial Group, UNUM Insurance Group and
Arrowpoint Capital Insurance Group.
Thomas S. Norsworthy, 55, was most recently the Chief Executive Officer of
Trenwick America Reinsurance Corporation and The Insurance Corporation ofNew
York, a property-casualty reinsurer and insurer, respectively, currently in
run-off. Norsworthy has more than 30 years of accounting, actuarial, finance
and treasury experience. He was the co-founder of Kenning Financial Advisors,
a consulting and advisory group focused on the insurance industry. Prior to
Kenning, Norsworthy was the Chief Financial Officer at Swiss Re Capital
Partners, the Swiss Re division responsible for the company's strategic equity
investments and private equity relationships. He has also served as Chief
Financial Officer of The Resolution Group Inc., a property-casualty insurance
group, and its principal subsidiary, International Insurance Company. Earlier
in his career, Norsworthy worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Robert J. White, 61, is a leading reorganization and restructuring
attorney with over 35 years of experience. He has recently completed his
appointment as Receiver in Charge of the Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino inLas
Vegas, Nevada. White had a 35-year career at O'Melveny & Meyers where he was
the founder of the firm's Restructuring and Reorganization practice. He has
represented creditors in such major restructurings and bankruptcies as
WorldCom, Covanta, and Pacific Crossing, as well as banks in Adelphia's
Chapter 11 exit financing and debtors in At Home Inc., Phar-Mor and MegaFoods
in their bankruptcies. White has been involved with numerous other out-of-
court restructurings and bankruptcies representing debtors, creditors, equity
holders and purchasers of assets. He currently sits on the Board of Directors
of ImageDocUSA and the American Cancer Society. He holds a B.S. in Accounting
from the University of Illinois and J.D., summa cum laude, from the University
of Michigan.
About Syncora Holdings Ltd.
Syncora Holdings Ltd. is aBermuda-domiciled holding company whose common
shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: SCA). Syncora
Holdings Ltd. was formerly known as Security Capital Assurance Ltd. For more
information, please visit www.syncora.com.
Investors and Media Contact:
Michael Gormley
+1 441-279-7450
michael.gormley@scafg.com
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This release contains statements about future results, plans and events
that may constitute "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the
safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. You are cautioned that these statements are not guarantees of future
results, plans or events and such statements involve risks and uncertainties
that may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in
these statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks
and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control. These
factors include, but are not limited to: our ability to continue as a going
concern; higher risk of loss in connection with obligations guaranteed by the
Company due to deterioration in the credit markets stemming from the poor
performance of subprime residential mortgage loans; the outcome of our
negotiations with the bank counterparties concerning the commutation,
termination, amendment or otherwise restructuring of their credit default swap
("CDS") contracts and the expiration of their forbearance; Syncora Guarantee's
ability to maintain minimum required policyholders' surplus or positive
policyholders' surplus; the decision by our regulators to take regulatory
action with respect to the Company's operating subsidiaries at any time; the
availability of capital and liquidity, including risks associated with the
Master Transaction Agreement and related transactions and agreements with the
New York Insurance Department; developments in the world's financial and
capital markets that adversely affect the performance of the Company's
investments and its access to such markets; changes in regulation, tax laws,
legislation or accounting policies or practices; delisting from the New York
Stock Exchange; limitations on our net operating carry forwards; payment of
terminations values under CDS contracts; non-payment of premium and make whole
payments by policy holders and counterparties; challenge to the Master
Transaction Agreement and related commutations and releases; impact of non-
payment of dividends on the Company's Series A Preferences shares on the
Company's Board of Directors; the outcome of the efforts to refundJefferson
County, Alabama's outstanding sewer system debt and the outcome of related
litigation; the performance of invested assets, losses on credit derivatives
or changes in the fair value of CDS contracts, losses on the shares of XL
Capital Ltd.; recent and future rating agency statements and ratings actions;
the suspension of writing substantially all new business and the Company's
ability to continue to operate its business in its historic form; the outcome
of litigation; the timing of claims payments and the receipt of reinsurance
recoverables; greater frequency or severity of claims and loss activity
including in excess of the Company's loss reserves; our assumptions concerning
the tax treatment of the transactions contemplated by the Master Transaction
Agreement and related agreements and related transactions; the impact of
provisions in business arrangements and agreements triggered by the ratings
downgrades; the impact of other triggers in business arrangements including
CDS contracts; changes in officers and key employees; general economic
conditions; changes in the availability, cost or quality of reinsurance or
retrocessions; possible downgrade of the Company's reinsurers; possible
default by the counterparties to the Company's reinsurance arrangements; the
Company's ability to compete; changes that may occur in Company operations and
ownership as the Company matures; and other additional factors, risks or
uncertainties described in Company filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2007, and also disclosed from time to time in
subsequent reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K. Readers are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements which speak only as of the
date they are made. The Company does not undertake to update forward-looking
statements to reflect the impact of circumstances or events that arise after
the date the forward-looking statements are made.
SOURCE Syncora Holdings Ltd.
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