Current News

ROBERT SHAW, PRESIDENT and founding partner of Skillings Shaw & Associates in Lewiston, Maine, has a passion for teaching others about the surety bond business; he’s been an instructor at the NASBP William J. Angell Surety School for almost 30 years. Shaw himself has learned a lot about the industry since he interviewed for a job with Maine Bonding and ...

By CHRISTOPHER KUEHL WHAT WAS THE old Chinese curse? “May you be born in interesting times”? We are most certainly seeing those interesting times, and few sectors have been as affected as construction—housing, commercial activity, and public sector building. These are important parts of any nation’s economy, but in the U.S. the impact is especially profound. Home ownership has been ...

BY LAUREN E. RANKINS, ERICA DEL AGUILA, AND ANIUSKA ROVAINA Introduction The starting point of this article is a maxim that is the very essence of suretyship: the surety is not liable unless its principal is liable on the underlying obligation. As such, a surety is entitled it assert its principal’s defenses against a claim for labor or material furnished ...

BY MATTHEW D. CASH THE FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING Standards Board’s issuance of the new revenue recognition standard, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, will fundamentally change accounting and disclosures for construction contractors. The standard is effective for public companies in calendar year 2018 and for private companies in calendar year 2019. This accounting standards update eliminates most of the existing industry-specific guidance, ...

BY FRANK M. RAPOPORT AND JERRY P. BRODSKY PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP (P3) projects have finally emerged in the U.S. infrastructure market. Contractors and their sureties must be poised and committed to profile their willingness and capabilities to embrace this new model of project delivery. Those minimizing this inevitable shift will be left out of upcoming deal flow from mayors, governors, and ...

IN A NASBP Surety Bond Quarterly exclusive interview, Campbell Pryde, President and CEO of XBRL US, talked about how he envisions the standardization process will impact producers, their clients, and sureties. Historically, surety bond producers, contractors, and sureties have used their own systems for recording financial data. Moving data to another party or to a different form required manual reentry. ...

BY TODD R. REGAN CRITICS OF THE use of surety bonds often point to perceived delays in the resolution of performance bond claims as a basis for turning to alternate forms of performance guarantees, such a letter of credit (LOC) or subcontractor default insurance (SDI). In order to address these concerns and to meet the particular needs of public private ...

NASBP’s 2017-2018 President sees many new opportunities for the association’s growth in advocacy and communications about the surety product and in preparing talent to lead the surety industry. READ MORE…

Peter Gibbs wants the SBG Program, currently with 30 participating sureties, to work efficiently and smarter, making it easier for surety partners to ensure small businesses are supported. READ MORE…

This NASBP white paper provides a framework for discussions with project owners and others about the present need for bonds. READ MORE…