A Manhattan appeals court raised the burden of proof for Ambac Assurance, which seeks to recover monetary damages from Bank of America in an insurance case involving $1.68 billion in securities backed by high-risk mortgages from now-defunct Countrywide Home Loans. Attorneys with Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas said a panel of the Appellate Division, First Judicial Department, ruled that Ambac may not use New York insurance law as the sole basis for arguing that it does not have to prove certain elements of fraud in its claims against BofA. The court also barred Ambac from using the statute to recover damages. The court held...