HAMILTON, Bermuda--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Essent Group Ltd. (“Essent”) (NYSE: ESNT) reported today that the
Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”) publicly released the final
Private Mortgage Insurer Eligibility Requirements (“PMIERs”). The PMIERs
represent the standards by which private mortgage insurers are eligible
to provide mortgage insurance on loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac, and are designed to ensure that approved mortgage
insurers maintain sufficient, high-quality assets to pay claims in a
stressful environment. As of March 31, 2015, Essent had sufficient
assets in its insurance companies to meet the total risk-based required
asset amount of the final PMIERs as published.
“We have been very supportive of the risk-based capital framework
underlying the PMIERs and strongly believe that sound standards which
are transparent and consistently enforced strengthen our industry,” said
Mark Casale, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Now that they are
final, the PMIERs will serve as an important set of national standards
that give industry counterparties more transparency into the claims
paying capacity of private mortgage insurance companies, including
Essent.”
“Based in part on Essent’s strong capital levels and the exceptional
credit quality of our portfolio,” Casale added, “we believe that Essent
is well positioned under the PMIERs to continue to serve the growing
demand for private mortgage insurance.”
Essent will provide further details relative to its review of the final
PMIERs as a part of its first quarter 2015 earnings call scheduled for
May 8, 2015 at 10:00AM ET.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release may include “forward-looking statements” which are
subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which may
be beyond our control. Forward-looking statements generally can be
identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may,"
"plan," "seek," "comfortable with," "will," "expect," "intend,"
"estimate," "anticipate," "believe" or "continue" or the negative
thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. Actual events,
results and outcomes may differ materially from our expectations due to
a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors.
Although it is not possible to identify all of these risks and factors,
they include, among others, the following: changes in or to Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac (the “GSEs”), whether through Federal legislation,
restructurings or a shift in business practices; failure to continue to
meet the mortgage insurer eligibility requirements of the GSEs;
competition for customers; lenders or investors seeking alternatives to
private mortgage insurance; an increase in the number of loans insured
through Federal government mortgage insurance programs, including those
offered by the Federal Housing Administration; decline in new insurance
written and franchise value due to loss of a significant customer;
decline in the volume of low down payment mortgage originations; the
definition of "Qualified Mortgage" reducing the size of the mortgage
origination market or creating incentives to use government mortgage
insurance programs; the definition of "Qualified Residential Mortgage"
reducing the number of low down payment loans or lenders and investors
seeking alternatives to private mortgage insurance; the implementation
of the Basel III Capital Accord discouraging the use of private mortgage
insurance; a decrease in the length of time that insurance policies are
in force; uncertainty of loss reserve estimates; deteriorating economic
conditions; non-U.S. operations becoming subject to U.S. Federal income
taxation; becoming considered a passive foreign investment company for
U.S. Federal income tax purposes; and other risks and factors described
in Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for
the year ended December 31, 2014 filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on February 27, 2015. Any forward-looking information
presented herein is made only as of the date of this press release, and
we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking information to reflect changes in assumptions, the
occurrence of unanticipated events, or otherwise.
About the Company
Essent Group Ltd. (NYSE: ESNT) is a Bermuda-based holding company which,
through its wholly-owned subsidiary Essent Guaranty, Inc.,
(collectively, “Essent”) offers private mortgage insurance for
single-family mortgage loans in the United States. Essent provides
private capital to mitigate mortgage credit risk, allowing lenders to
make additional mortgage financing available to prospective homeowners.
Headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania and rated BBB+ by Standard &
Poor’s and Baa2 by Moody’s, Essent Guaranty, Inc. is licensed to write
mortgage insurance in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and is
approved by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Essent also offers
mortgage-related insurance and reinsurance through its Bermuda-based
subsidiary, Essent Reinsurance Ltd. Additional information regarding
Essent may be found at www.essentgroup.com.
Source: Essent Group Ltd.
Source: Essent Group Ltd.