RALEIGH - A new bond insurance company being launched by investment guru Warren Buffett has been approved to do business in 46 states, but North Carolina is not one of them.

State insurance regulators say Berkshire Hathaway Assurance Corp., or BHAC, pulled its application March 25 after the Buffett organization declined to provide an extra guarantee that the startup would have adequate capital reserves.

The company wanted the license to begin writing policies for cities, towns, counties and other bond-issuing governmental clients in North Carolina against the extremely unlikely event that they would default on their borrowings.

Chrissy Pearson, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina Department of Insurance, says the state received the BHAC license application in February and asked the firm to comply with various statutory provisions. "These statutes we use are around to protect the consumer," she says.

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