Moody’s launches operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
London, 08 May 2018 -- Moody's Investors Service (Moody's) has today announced that it has officially launched operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
"The launch of Moody's operations in the Kingdom reinforces its ongoing commitment to the development of the debt capital market as the Kingdom focuses its efforts to diversify the economy as part of the country's Vision 2030,'' said Robert Fauber, President of Moody's Investors Service.
On 6 May 2018, Moody's received a Commencement Letter allowing Moody's to conduct rating activities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from the Saudi Capital Markets Authority (CMA).
"I would like to thank the CMA for their support in facilitating Moody's expansion into Saudi Arabia," added Mr. Fauber.
Last week, Moody's has announced the appointment of Mahmoud Totonji as General Manager and Head of Relationship Management, for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. With his knowledge of business in Saudi Arabia and his experience working with diverse issuers, Mr. Totonji will be responsible for developing new business relationships and extending existing customer relationships in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries.
Saudi Arabia is also a key market for Islamic Finance, an area in which Moody's is recognised as a global thought leader through ratings, research and speaking engagements at leading conferences and events globally. The Kingdom completed the world's largest ever inaugural Sukuk issuance at $9 billion in April 2017, a transaction rated A1 by Moody's.
Moody's currently rates 140 issuers and 92 debt programs across the Middle East, including leading coverage in rating Islamic financial institutions and Sukuk. Moody's has won numerous awards for the quality of its credit analyses, including the Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) (2015, 2016 and nominated in 2017) -- Market Leadership Award; Islamic Finance Intelligence & Ratings (2016) and MENA IR Insurance Awards -- Best Rating Agency (2017).
Moody's Investors Service is a leading provider of credit ratings, research, and risk analysis. Moody's commitment and expertise contributes to transparent and integrated financial markets, and the firm's ratings and analysis track debt covering approximately 120 sovereign nations, 11,000 corporate issuers, 21,000 public finance issuers, and 72,000 structured finance obligations.
This publication does not announce a credit rating action. For any credit ratings referenced in this publication, please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for the most updated credit rating action information and rating history.
David Aldrich
Associate Managing Director
MIS Commercial Group
Moody's Investors Service Ltd.
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Canary Wharf
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United Kingdom
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Mahmoud Totonji
SVP-Relationship Manager
MIS Commercial Group
JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456
Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454
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