Ambac Names Wallis CEO

Ambac Financial Group Inc., the rating-challenged bond insurer, said it has named David W. Wallis president and chief executive officer of Ambac and Ambac Assurance Corp. effective immediately.

Mr. Wallis succeeds Michael A. Callen, who was named Interim president and CEO in January. Mr. Callen will remain in his position as executive chairman of the New York-based operation.

A 12-year veteran of Ambac, Mr. Wallis previously held the title of chief risk officer.

“After conducting a comprehensive search, I am delighted that our board has selected David,” Mr. Callen said. “David is a strong leader who has had the opportunity to review and manage Ambac's insured portfolio for the last three years.”

Mr. Callen added that Mr. Wallis' “credit and risk management expertise and wide breadth of experience prior to his taking on the role of chief risk officer will serve the company well as we continue to navigate these uncertain markets.”

Last month Moody's announced that it had placed the company on review for possible downgrade. Mr. Callen said then that the company is aggressively managing it mortgage-related exposures and has made demonstrable progress in reducing risk in our insured portfolio. Ambac's financial strength will continue to improve as we de-lever and commute and remediate our exposures.”

“I am honored to accept this position,” Mr. Wallis commented. “Ambac has an incredible opportunity to meet the challenges posed by the current business environment. My immediate focus is to restore confidence in our balance sheet through aggressive risk reduction. Our remediation efforts will allow us to maximize the value of our portfolio. I fully expect to maintain our commitment to transparency and disclosure.

“However, my ultimate goal is to bring this company back to its position of leadership in the industry,” he continued. “I am confident in the experience and dedication of my colleagues at Ambac and I look forward to working closely with them to achieve our goals.”

Mr. Wallis joined Ambac in 1996 in Ambac's London office where he helped develop and lead Ambac's European-structured finance and securitization business. In 2003, he transferred to Ambac's New York headquarters where he was a member of the credit risk management team. From 2005 to 2008, Mr. Wallis served as a senior managing director and head of portfolio and market risk management.

Prior to joining Ambac he was an investment banker at NatWest in the debt structuring group.

In other news, the company announced late yesterday that it would make a regular quarterly dividend payment of 1 cent per share on Dec. 3 to stockholders of record as of Nov. 10.