Bond Issue Ratings

CI's long-term bond, other debt and Sukuk ratings are applicable to both specific corporate financial contracts and bank obligations with an original maturity in excess of one year. Short-term issue ratings are generally assigned to financial obligations with an original maturity of up to one year. The rating CI assigns to debt and Sukuk issues depends on the terms and provisions of the financial obligation, including the currency of issue and any structural credit enhancements, as well as the creditworthiness of guarantors.

Structural credit enhancements to an issue may be used to mitigate sovereign risks and, in the case of issuers with very strong standalone credit profiles, may enable an issue to be rated above the rating of the relevant sovereign.

The following rating scale applies to bond, other debt and Sukuk ratings.

Long-Term Issue Ratings

Investment Grade
AAA	Bonds and financial obligations that are rated AAA are considered to be of the highest quality. They carry the smallest degree of investment risk. Interest payments are protected by a significant and exceptionally stable margin, and principal is extremely secure. There are unlikely to be significant changes in the various protective elements. In any case, such possible changes are very unlikely to weaken the fundamentally strong position of such issues.
AA	Bonds and financial obligations that are rated AA are considered to be of very high quality by all criteria. These are high-grade instruments, but are rated lower than AAA instruments as the elements of protection may not be as large and there may be slightly greater fluctuation within the margin of protection. The overall risk is slightly greater than for AAA obligations.
A	Bonds and financial obligations that are rated A exhibit many positive investment characteristics and are classed as upper- to medium-grade investment quality. Various factors giving protection to principal and interest are considered very sound, but certain components may be evident which indicate future potential impairment.
BBB	Bonds and financial obligations that are rated BBB are regarded as medium-grade. These securities are neither highly nor lowly protected. Both interest payments and principal security are currently adequate but certain protective elements may be missing or may be slightly more unreliable over the longer-term. Obligations rated BBB do not display very strong investment characteristics. The obligations form the lowest investment grade level and some may possibly possess speculative characteristics.

Speculative Grade
BB	Bonds and financial obligations that are rated BB are below investment grade and possess speculative characteristics. There is some uncertainty in the longer-term future of these instruments. The protection of interest and principal is likely to be very moderate, and thereby not well cushioned during both favourable and unfavourable conditions in the future.
B	Bonds and financial obligations that are rated B generally do not possess attractive investment characteristics. The certainty of interest and principal payments, or of maintenance of other terms of the contract, over the long term, is limited.
CCC	Bonds and financial obligations that are rated CCC are of poor standing. Such issues are vulnerable to default with significant uncertainty with respect to the payment of principal or interest.
CC	Bonds and financial obligations that are rated CC are highly speculative. Such issues are highly vulnerable to default or have other substantial weaknesses.
C	Bonds and financial obligations that are rated C are of low class. Such issues are regarded as possessing extremely poor prospects and are extremely vulnerable to non-payment.
D	The issue is in payment default. Interest or principal payments are not made on the due date.

Short-Term Issue Ratings

Investment Grade
A1	The highest short-term rating assigned. Issues are considered to have the highest capacity for timely repayment of short-term financial obligations. The issues in this category exhibit extremely strong protection factors. Interest payments and principal are safeguarded by a wide margin. Issues with a particularly strong profile have a "+" affixed to the rating.
A2	The capacity for timely repayment of interest and principal is high. The issue and/or the issuer possess highly favourable characteristics and protection factors are good.
A3	Satisfactory capacity for repayment of interest and principal. However, issues in this category are more vulnerable to adverse changes in business, economic and financial conditions. Protection factors are adequate but not as strong or certain as obligations in the higher short-term rating classifications.

Speculative Grade
B	Speculative capacity for timely repayment of interest and principal. The timely repayment of obligations is vulnerable to adverse changes, and protection factors are not high.
C	Doubtful capacity for timely repayment of interest and principal. Default risk is high.
D	The issue is in payment default. Interest or principal payments are not made on the due date.

Capital Intelligence appends plus "+" and "-" signs to long term bond, other debt and Sukuk ratings in the categories from 'AA' to 'CCC' to indicate that the ability of the obligor to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is, respectively, slightly greater or less than that of similarly rated peers.

Outlook - expectations of improvement, no change or deterioration in a rating over the 12 months following its publication are denoted Positive, Stable or Negative.