Bond insurers Assured Guaranty Corp. and Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp., both subsidiaries of Bermuda-based Assured Guaranty Ltd., have announced that Mary Francoeur will lead the company's project finance and utilities group.

James Doyle, a member of the eastern regional group, has been promoted to group head. They will both report to Bill Hogan, senior managing director, of public finance at Assured Guaranty Corp. and Assured Guaranty Municpial Corp.

"With a proven track record in our business and high industry profile, I believe that Mary is the right person to further develop our business in this growing segment of the public finance business," said Mr. Hogan.

Ms Francoeur joined Assured Guaranty Corp. in 2008 as managing director for US project finance. She was previously at Financial Guaranty Insurance Company and Moody's Investors Service Inc. (Moody's).

Ms Francoeur is currently the chairperson of the Municipal Analysts Group of New York and is a member of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Financial Advisory Board. She has more than 24 years of experience in public finance.

Mr. Doyle joined Assured Guaranty through the acquisition of Financial Security Assurance (FSA), now Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp., where he served as a municipal underwriter of transportation, utility and tax-backed securities since 1993. Prior to joining FSA, he was a credit analyst at Moody's.

Mr. Doyle is a member of the Municipal Analysts Group of New York and the National Federation of Municipal Analysts.