February 18, 2011 - The Standard and Poor's Rating Services raised its issuer credit rating for the Arkansas Development Finance Authority (ADFA) to ‘AA’ with a stable outlook from ‘AA -’.  When ADFA first received its rating in the late 1990’s, it was rated 'A'.  Since then, the Authority has been upgraded three times.   

The 'AA' rating indicates strong financial performance comparable with other housing finance agencies in that rating category; an asset base that continues to be high quality and low risk, an experienced management team; and ADFA's ongoing ability to meet its legislative mandate.

Standard & Poor's credit ratings have achieved wide investor acceptance as easily usable tools for differentiating credit quality. Under present commercial bank regulations issued by the Comptroller of the Currency, bonds rated in the top four categories (‘AAA’, ‘AA’, ‘A’, ‘BBB’, commonly known as investment-grade ratings) generally are regarded as eligible for bank investment.

ADFA is the primary bond-issuing authority in Arkansas. In addition to issuing affordable housing debt, the authority issues debt for economic development programs and acts as a conduit issuer for various other non-housing related activities. The analysis excluded non-housing activities of the authority except to the extent that such programs affect ADFA’s general fund. Generally, the non-housing activities increase the authority’s ability to earn revenue, without adding to its risk profile.

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