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MAS launches SGD Credit Rating Grant

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The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has unveiled a grant to encourage companies to issue credit-rated Singapore dollar bonds.

Its aim is to increase the share of rated bond issuances and improve market transparency, said MAS yesterday.

The SGD Credit Rating Grant will help issuers offset the associated costs over a five-year period and encourage more issuers to obtain credit ratings. It is open to both foreign and domestic issuers.

Qualifying issuers of Singdollar bonds who obtain credit ratings from an international rating agency can claim up to 100 per cent of their credit-rating expenses, subject to a funding cap of $400,000 an issuer.

Credit ratings provide timely and independent assessments of the creditworthiness of issuers throughout the life of a bond, the MAS added.

"This will help provide greater transparency to investors, broaden the pool of market participants, and grow the Singapore dollar bond market," said Ms Jacqueline Loh, MAS deputy managing director.

"We also urge investors to carry out proper due diligence and understand the credit ratings and other indicators of financial strength of an issuer before investing." -THE STRAITS TIMES

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