MSCI, a leading provider of investment decision support tools worldwide, announced today that it will reintroduce coverage of the Saudi Arabia equity market with the release of standalone country indices.

The move follows an agreement between MSCI and Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) for the provision of market data.

The reintroduced MSCI Saudi Arabia Domestic Indices, including large cap, mid cap and small cap indices, are designed for institutional investors wishing to invest in Saudi Arabia, and who are not constrained by foreign ownership limits, said a statement.

The move comes nearly two years after MSCI withdrew its Saudi indices after a licensing rights dispute with Tadawul, a Reuters report said.

"We are delighted that we are once again able to offer indices covering the Saudi Arabia equity market,” said Baer Pettit, managing director and head of the MSCI Index business.

“We believe that this announcement will be welcomed by investors both in the region, and globally. Our clients continue to demand high quality indices that accurately reflect the equity market opportunity in the region, either as benchmarks or as the basis for various financial instruments.”

Abdullah Suweilmy, CEO of Tadawul, said: “We are very pleased to have MSCI as an authorised index provider at Tadawul. Investors and asset managers in Saudi Arabia and around the world can now use the services of MSCI for their view of the equity market in Saudi Arabia, and financial product providers can use MSCI as the basis for products that enable investors to participate in the performance of the Saudi stock market.”

MSCI will also reintroduce the MSCI GCC Countries Index (MSCI GCC Countries ex Saudi Arabia Index + MSCI Saudi Arabia Domestic Index) and the MSCI Arabian Markets Index (MSCI Arabian Markets ex Saudi Arabia Index + MSCI Saudi Arabia Domestic Index), as well as domestic versions of existing regional indices, the statement said.

MSCI will make the MSCI Saudi Arabia Domestic Indices, and related regional indices, available in the course of June 2012.  – TradeArabia News Service