Thomson Reuters

12 Oct 2011

Thomson Reuters, Bond Pricing Agency Malaysia Launch Co-Branded Sukuk and Bond Indices

108 Sukuk and Bond Indices Provide New Transparency for Malaysian and International Investors

Kuala Lumpur - Thomson Reuters and Bond Pricing Agency Malaysia today launched a family suite of indices across a range of Islamic instruments to provide the most transparent guidelines for investors interested in Malaysia, a globally accepted Islamic finance hub. The Thomson Reuters-Bond Pricing Agency (BPA) Malaysia Sukuk and bond Ringgit indices are based upon market and industry standards and aimed at investors, money managers and analysts.

The US$1 trillion Islamic finance industry is currently growing at more than 15% per annum. It is frequently the topic of conversation by regulators, international lending agencies, bankers, and asset managers in the G-20 countries as well as the 57 Muslim countries for raising asset backed or asset based funds.

“The Malaysian Sukuk and bond markets are becoming increasingly important for Gulf, European and U.S. entities as investors and companies turn to investing and financing opportunities in Asia,” said Rushdi Siddiqui, global head of Islamic finance, Thomson Reuters.

The new family of indices include 108 Malaysian Ringgit Sukuk and bond indices comprising 36 Thomson Reuters-BPAM Malaysian Sukuk Indices, 36 Thomson Reuters-BPAM Malaysian Bond Indices and 36 Thomson Reuters-BPAM All Bond and Sukuk Indices covering 778 issues. The Indices cover six bond classes, are archived back to 2007 and have total market capitalization of MYR583.6 billion (US$182 billion).

At a celebration today, officiated by YBhg Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar, chairman, Securities Commission Malaysia to mark the launch of the Thomson Reuters-BPA Malaysia Bond Indices, Meor Amri Meor Ayob, chief executive officer, BPA Malaysia, said: “The coming together of Thomson Reuters and BPA Malaysia to co-brand our indices is a proud moment for us as it confirms our belief that BPA Malaysia products are of global standards. Thomson Reuters will provide the global reach for our indices and will also provide a new global window to Malaysia’s Sukuk and bond markets.

“BPA Malaysia has been working to introduce new products and services for the last six years to help market participants get the best updated information for their fixed income and Sukuk needs,” Meor added.

Siddiqui commented: “As part of our commitment to take Islamic Indexing to a new level of sophistication and development Thomson Reuters is pleased to be partnering with BPA Malaysia which is the only registered bond pricing agency in Malaysia that is authorized to price and value Malaysian Sukuk and bonds.

“We spoke to customers and listened to their feedback about Sukuk and bond data gathering, methodology and pricing. We quickly realized that the collaboration of Thomson Reuters and BPA Malaysia brings together trust and confidence for investors. And with Malaysia’s commitment to becoming one of the global Islamic finance hubs, not only holistically but also structurally, we are very proud to be launching these co-branded indices here in Kuala Lumpur today,” Siddiqui added.

Thomson Reuters-BPA Malaysia Ringgit Sukuk and Bond Indices meet the relevant economic sector, financial and general considerations. The infrastructure in place accesses all public information, conversation with traders, and news about a given Sukuk or bond issue to determine best available pricing.

Thomson Reuters-BPA Malaysia Ringgit Sukuk and Bond Indices are available on Thomson Reuters Eikon, the company’s next-generation desktop. The indices are also available in Thomson Reuters data feeds and other products such as Thomson Reuters Datastream.

About Bond Pricing Agency Malaysia

BPA Malaysia is currently the only registered bond pricing agency as accredited by the Securities Commission of Malaysia. The Company is a one-stop solution provider delivering evaluated pricing and bond data services on the Malaysian fixed income market. BPA Malaysia currently serves over 100 local and international financial institutions, asset managers, mutual funds and corporations, while collaborating with a wide range of strategic partners ranging from academia, global information vendors, research houses, media organisations and training providers. For more information, go to www.bpam.com.my.

Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, healthcare and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs more than 55,000 people and operates in over 100 countries. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. For more information, go to thomsonreuters.com.