The Capital Market Authority (CMA) authorised Moody's Investors Service to conduct credit rating activities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Managing Director Monica Merli welcomed the announcement, emphasizing the Kingdom's increasing prominence in the debt capital markets. Saudi Arabia is 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. 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 programmes across the Middle East, including leading coverage in rating Islamic financial institutions and Sukuk.