Standard and Poor's signs index licensing agreement with Saudi Stock Exchange

The new agreement authorizes Standard & Poor's to use Tadawul securities data to maintain current and launch new indices for the Saudi equity market.

It reaffirms Standard & Poor's commitment to the development of Middle Eastern capital markets and to satisfying the wide array of investment, portfolio benchmarking and trading needs of local and international investors seeking to develop innovative financial solutions.

The ICA authorizes Standard & Poor's to use real-time Tadawul market data and information to create indices that measure the performance of the Saudi stock market and serve as the basis for third-party index-linked products. In 2008, Standard & Poor's became the first global index provider to offer investors 7-day calculations on its conventional and Shariah indices covering Saudi Arabia and other GCC markets. It further enhanced the S&P MENA index family in June with the launch of five new size splits - LargeCap, MidCap, SmallCap, LargeMidCap and MidSmallCap - for 11 major markets in the Mena region. And Standard & Poor's is working with a growing regional client base to design and deliver custom indices and strategies that draw on its expertise in index design, asset allocation, commodities, fixed income, and emerging markets.

Tadawul CEO Abdullah Suweilmy said, "Tadawul is pleased to welcome Standard & Poor's to the growing list of authorized index providers operating in Saudi Arabia. With its expertise and international reach, asset managers from Saudi Arabia and around the world can now use the services of Standard & Poor's. We are also delighted that Standard & Poor's and Tadawul have agreed to jointly investigate other ways in which we can work together in the future."

"Standard & Poor's is committed to providing our clients, both in Saudi Arabia and throughout the world, with comprehensive and timely index coverage of all world markets," said Robert Shakotko, Managing Director of Standard & Poor's Index Services. "Tadawul is the largest stock exchange in the Mena region, and we are pleased to have reached a new agreement with them. Standard & Poor's indices have covered the Saudi equity market since 1997, and this new agreement with Tadawul further reinforces our growing commitment to this important region."