RAM Rating Services Berhad (RAM Ratings), Asia’s leading credit rating agency based in Malaysia, is looking for possible cross-border collaborations with Bahraini Institutions in the areas of funding and investment, particularly in the areas of Islamic finance.
RAM Ratings’ Chief Executive Officer Ms Liza Mohd Noor said that the outlook for further growth, especially in the capital markets in both countries, appears robust as demand for capital rises in step with the rebound in the global economy.
“The growth is expected to continue unabated and along with it the demand for financing,” explained Liza further.
She also highlighted that the increasing appetite for Islamic financing via sukuk has played a vital role in matching the needs of borrowers and investors, thus establishing their place in the global capital debt markets.
RAM Ratings is in Manama as part of the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC) Roadshow to Bahrain from 14 to 15 October 2009. The Roadshow delegation comprising regulators and industry players is led by HRH Raja Nazrin Shah Ibni Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah, Crown Prince of Perak, Malaysia, who is also the financial ambassador to the MIFC initiatives.
Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, RAM Ratings was incorporated in 1990 as the pioneer credit rating agency in Malaysia, and has been voted as the top domestic rating agency in the Asia Pacific region by Asian Development Bank, and also named the most influential rating agency in the region.
Since its inception, RAM Ratings has ventured into countries such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan and Pakistan through partnerships providing an array of services from credit ratings, training, technical assistance and transfer of expertise
An essential part of Malaysia’s financial landscape, RAM Ratings plays a leading role in providing crucial and independent credit opinions that are needed by investors and other market participants, with a view to being more confident about their investment and financial decisions.
RAM Rating’s credit assessments have been habitually used as points of reference by regulators, the financial community and the investment fraternity.
“Our experience in ratings, particularly in sukuk ratings, includes pioneering work such as rating Malaysia’s first Islamic issue, a RM300 million (equivalent to USD84.3 million) redeemable Islamic securities in 1994. Since then, we have continued to deliver on our mission of being the preferred credit rating agency, having rated most of Malaysia’s sukuk market novelties issued in the domestic market by local corporations, multinationals and foreign institutions”, added Liza Mohd Noor.
Steps RAM Ratings has taken to further develop the Islamic capital market include publishing its quarterly ‘Islamic Finance Bulletin’ and ‘The Malaysian Sukuk Market Handbook – Your guide to the Malaysian Islamic Capital Market’, a comprehensive guide that serves as a guide and reference for institutions and professionals.
The ratings agency’s portfolio encompasses a vast range of local and foreign corporates, multinationals, banks, insurance companies, government-linked and other public-finance entities, myriad complex investment vehicles and the ringgit-dominated securities they issue, structured finance transactions backed by receivables or other financial assets and Islamic securities.