The ICA authorises 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 seven-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 - large cap, mid cap, small cap, large mid cap and mid small cap - for 11 major markets in the Mena region.

Tadawul chief executive Abdullah Suweilmy says: '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,' says 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.'