London, United Kingdom - Assured Guaranty (Europe) Ltd. (AGE) announces that it is to provide a financial guarantee1 for a £100 million bond issue for the "sustainable communities for Leeds" (sc4l) consortium to finance the redevelopment of the Little London, Beeston Hill and Holbeck area in Leeds. The publicly listed bond financing was announced to the market today and is due to price at the end of June.

The consortium, appointed as Preferred Bidder by Leeds City Council, includes Equitix, SWIP Infrastructure Funds and Keepmoat and is project managed by Sweett Group.  Leedswill fund debt service based on housing availability and receive related UK Private Finance Initiative (PFI) credits from the UK government.

As the financial guarantor, AGE guarantees timely payment of scheduled principal and interest to bondholders, throughout the 19-year life of the bond.  Bond lead manager, Lloyds Bank,announces the marketing of the bonds to investors today, and a series of investor meetings will follow.

The Little London, Beeston Hill and Holbeck social housing project includes the refurbishment of 1,248 homes plus external works to 51 leaseholders and construction of 388 new homes. Thiswill create an improved community estate with family housing, together with new parks andplay areasclose to the centre of Leeds.

Nick Proud, CEO of AGE, commented:

"This will be the first public primary PFI bond in Europe since the start of the global credit crisis in 2008 - it marks an important step in bringing the capital markets back to infrastructure finance. The transaction revalidates the monoline business model, which was chosen as the most cost-effective solution for the consortium. Wrapping the bond with our guarantee enhances its creditworthiness, reduces bondholders' risks and improves capital treatment for certain investors, while widening market access and reducing funding costs for the issuer."

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (AGL), through its subsidiaries, is the leading provider of financial guarantees for principal and interest payments due on municipal, public infrastructure and structured financings.

Any forward-looking statements made in this press release reflect the current views of AGL and its subsidiaries (collectively, Assured Guaranty) with respect to future events and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in these statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, changes in applicable laws, rules and regulations that affect the capital impact on investors; changes in market conditions that affect the issuer's market accessand risks resulting from Assured Guaranty's inability to execute its strategies; the demand for Assured Guaranty's financial guarantees; further actions that the rating agencies may take with respect to Assured Guaranty's financial strength ratings; adverse developments in Assured Guaranty's insured portfolio; and other risks and uncertainties that have not been identified at this time, management's response to these factors, and other risk factors identified in AGL's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are made as of 21 June 2013. Assured Guaranty undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

AGL's subsidiary Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. (AGM) guarantees international infrastructure and U.S. municipal bonds and was previously named Financial Security Assurance Inc. (FSA) before becoming an Assured Guaranty company in July 2009. AGE, an indirect subsidiary of AGM, is Assured Guaranty's European operating platform.

AGE (company number 2510099) is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

AGL is a publicly traded (NYSE: AGO) Bermuda-based holding company. More information on AGL and its subsidiaries can be found at assuredguaranty.com.

UK media contact:
Mark Lunn, College Hill
0207 457 2020

1. AGE provides its financial guarantee together with a co-guarantee from its affiliate Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp.  (AGM) Assured Guaranty Finance Overseas Ltd. (company number:04031467) (AGFOL), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, has permission to arrange contracts of insurance including financial guarantees for its affiliate AGM.  AGFOL has approved this press release.

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