MSCI

MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of research-based indexes and analytics, announced today the results of the MSCI 2020 Market Classification Review and warned that the MSCI Argentina Index may be removed from the MSCI Emerging Markets Index if there is further deterioration in market accessibility.

“While volatility increased dramatically due to the COVID19 pandemic, global equity markets remained accessible and continued to function well, allowing issuers to raise capital and investors to manage risk during the crisis,” said Dimitris Melas, Global Head of Equity Research and Chairman of the MSCI Index Policy Committee. However, Dr. Melas added, “In the last 12 months, two important Emerging Markets, Argentina and Turkey, suffered substantial deterioration in market accessibility that could lead to their exclusion from the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.”

Potential exclusion of the MSCI Argentina Index from the MSCI Emerging Markets Index

MSCI announced today that it will continue consulting with market participants on the classification of the MSCI Argentina Indexes, as international institutional investors continue to be subject to stringent capital controls which were put in place in September 2019, making it impossible for international investors to access the domestic equity market.

“The MSCI Argentina Indexes remain replicable, as only foreign listings are currently eligible for index inclusion, but the imposition of the current capital controls is not in line with the market accessibility criteria of the MSCI Emerging Markets Indexes,” said Sebastien Lieblich, Global Head of Index Solutions and Chairman of the MSCI Equity Index Committee. Mr. Lieblich added, “The Argentinian authorities must realize that the prolonged application of capital controls or the introduction of further capital controls may force the reclassification of the MSCI Argentina Indexes from Emerging Markets status to either Frontier Markets or Standalone Markets status.”

MSCI will consult on the potential reclassification of the MSCI Argentina Index as part of the MSCI 2021 Market Classification Review. However, any event that results in further deterioration of market accessibility will prompt MSCI to remove the MSCI Argentina Indexes from Emerging Markets as soon as practicable.

Marked deterioration in investability of the MSCI Turkey Index

Additionally, MSCI announced that it may launch a consultation on a reclassification proposal for the MSCI Turkey Index to Frontier Markets or Standalone Markets status if the already deteriorating accessibility level of the Turkish equity market were to worsen further. As highlighted in the MSCI 2020 Market Accessibility Review released on June 17, 2020, the accessibility level of the Turkish equity market has been adversely impacted by the introduction of short selling and stock lending bans in October 2019 and February 2020, respectively. These bans severely restrict the ability of institutional investors to express active investment views and hedge portfolio risk.

MSCI Iceland Index reclassification to Frontier Markets status

MSCI also announced today that it will reclassify the MSCI Iceland Index from Standalone Markets to Frontier Markets status. The capital controls, including the Special Reserve Ratio, were removed on March 6, 2019. While certain reporting requirements for fund repatriation remain in place, based on feedback from market participants, this no longer materially impacts the accessibility of the Icelandic equity market for international institutional investors.

MSCI will include the MSCI Iceland Index in the MSCI Frontier Markets Index in one step coinciding with the May 2021 Semi-Annual Index Review. Based on the simulation using pro forma data as of June 18, 2020, this would lead to the inclusion of two securities in the MSCI Frontier Market Index (excluding Kuwait) with an estimated index weight of 5.24%. The simulated list of constituents for the MSCI Iceland Index in the MSCI Frontier Markets Index (excluding Kuwait) has been made available at https://www.msci.com/market-classification .

Accessibility issues in select Frontier Markets

Some market accessibility issues have been recently observed in select Frontier Markets. The Nigerian equity market has been impacted by the significant deterioration of liquidity in the Nigerian FX market. Lebanon has been subject to capital controls which were introduced in October 2019. The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) introduced a floor price (set at the average of the closing price of the immediately preceding five trading days) applicable to all securities listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange in March 2020, resulting in substantial drop in trading liquidity.

While such accessibility issues may be viewed by market participants as part of the inherent characteristics of Frontier Markets, these developments have a negative impact on the replicability of the indexes. Therefore, MSCI will continue classifying these markets as Frontier Markets until further notice, while applying a special treatment to potentially reduce the number of changes in the related indexes and mitigate the index replication concerns.

MSCI will not implement selected changes for any securities classified in Nigeria, Lebanon or Bangladesh in the relevant MSCI Country Indexes or in any derived indexes that contain these markets. This special treatment will apply to any potential changes that would be part of upcoming index reviews, as well as certain corporate event implementations. This treatment has been in effect for the MSCI Nigeria Indexes since May 13, 2020 and will be applicable to the MSCI Lebanon Indexes and the MSCI Bangladesh Indexes effective immediately.

MSCI welcomes feedback on the level of accessibility of equity markets in Nigeria, Lebanon and Bangladesh and will continue to monitor the situation. In the event of further deterioration of market accessibility, MSCI may reclassify the MSCI Nigeria Indexes, the MSCI Lebanon Indexes or the MSCI Bangladesh Indexes to Standalone Markets status as soon as practicable. MSCI would provide sufficient lead time prior to implementation and would consult with market participants about the details and timing of the reclassification.

The accessibility reports for Argentina, Iceland and Nigeria are now reflected in the MSCI 2020 Global Market Accessibility Review report available at https://www.msci.com/market-classification .

Reclassification of the MSCI Kuwait Index to Emerging Markets Status

As a reminder, MSCI will implement the reclassification of the MSCI Kuwait Indexes from Frontier Markets status to Emerging Markets status in one step coinciding with the November 2020 Semi-Annual Index Review (SAIR).

-Ends-

About MSCI

MSCI is a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community. With over 45 years of expertise in research, data and technology, we power better investment decisions by enabling clients to understand and analyze key drivers of risk and return and confidently build more effective portfolios. We create industry-leading research-enhanced solutions that clients use to gain insight into and improve transparency across the investment process. To learn more, please visit www.msci.com .

The process for submitting a formal index complaint can be found on the index regulation page of MSCI’s website at: https://www.msci.com/index-regulation .

This document and all of the information contained in it, including without limitation all text, data, graphs, charts (collectively, the “Information”) is the property of MSCI Inc. or its subsidiaries (collectively, “MSCI”), or MSCI’s licensors, direct or indirect suppliers or any third party involved in making or compiling any Information (collectively, with MSCI, the “Information Providers”) and is provided for informational purposes only. The Information may not be modified, reverse-engineered, reproduced or redisseminated in whole or in part without prior written permission from MSCI.

The Information may not be used to create derivative works or to verify or correct other data or information. For example (but without limitation), the Information may not be used to create indexes, databases, risk models, analytics, software, or in connection with the issuing, offering, sponsoring, managing or marketing of any securities, portfolios, financial products or other investment vehicles utilizing or based on, linked to, tracking or otherwise derived from the Information or any other MSCI data, information, products or services.

The user of the Information assumes the entire risk of any use it may make or permit to be made of the Information. NONE OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDERS MAKES ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION (OR THE RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED BY THE USE THEREOF), AND TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, EACH INFORMATION PROVIDER EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ORIGINALITY, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, NON-INFRINGEMENT, COMPLETENESS, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE) WITH RESPECT TO ANY OF THE INFORMATION.

Without limiting any of the foregoing and to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall any Information Provider have any liability regarding any of the Information for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, consequential (including lost profits) or any other damages even if notified of the possibility of such damages. The foregoing shall not exclude or limit any liability that may not by applicable law be excluded or limited, including without limitation (as applicable), any liability for death or personal injury to the extent that such injury results from the negligence or willful default of itself, its servants, agents or sub-contractors.

Information containing any historical information, data or analysis should not be taken as an indication or guarantee of any future performance, analysis, forecast or prediction. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

The Information should not be relied on and is not a substitute for the skill, judgment and experience of the user, its management, employees, advisors and/or clients when making investment and other business decisions. All Information is impersonal and not tailored to the needs of any person, entity or group of persons.

None of the Information constitutes an offer to sell (or a solicitation of an offer to buy), any security, financial product or other investment vehicle or any trading strategy.

It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Exposure to an asset class or trading strategy or other category represented by an index is only available through third party investable instruments (if any) based on that index. MSCI does not issue, sponsor, endorse, market, offer, review or otherwise express any opinion regarding any fund, ETF, derivative or other security, investment, financial product or trading strategy that is based on, linked to or seeks to provide an investment return related to the performance of any MSCI index (collectively, “Index Linked Investments”). MSCI makes no assurance that any Index Linked Investments will accurately track index performance or provide positive investment returns. MSCI Inc. is not an investment adviser or fiduciary and MSCI makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in any Index Linked Investments.

Index returns do not represent the results of actual trading of investible assets/securities. MSCI maintains and calculates indexes, but does not manage actual assets. Index returns do not reflect payment of any sales charges or fees an investor may pay to purchase the securities underlying the index or Index Linked Investments. The imposition of these fees and charges would cause the performance of an Index Linked Investment to be different than the MSCI index performance.

The Information may contain back tested data. Back-tested performance is not actual performance, but is hypothetical. There are frequently material differences between back tested performance results and actual results subsequently achieved by any investment strategy.

Constituents of MSCI equity indexes are listed companies, which are included in or excluded from the indexes according to the application of the relevant index methodologies. Accordingly, constituents in MSCI equity indexes may include MSCI Inc., clients of MSCI or suppliers to MSCI. Inclusion of a security within an MSCI index is not a recommendation by MSCI to buy, sell, or hold such security, nor is it considered to be investment advice.

Data and information produced by various affiliates of MSCI Inc., including MSCI ESG Research LLC and Barra LLC, may be used in calculating certain MSCI indexes. More information can be found in the relevant index methodologies on www.msci.com .

MSCI receives compensation in connection with licensing its indexes to third parties. MSCI Inc.’s revenue includes fees based on assets in Index Linked Investments. Information can be found in MSCI Inc.’s company filings on the Investor Relations section of www.msci.com .

MSCI ESG Research LLC is a Registered Investment Adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and a subsidiary of MSCI Inc. Except with respect to any applicable products or services from MSCI ESG Research, neither MSCI nor any of its products or services recommends, endorses, approves or otherwise expresses any opinion regarding any issuer, securities, financial products or instruments or trading strategies and MSCI’s products or services are not intended to constitute investment advice or a recommendation to make (or refrain from making) any kind of investment decision and may not be relied on as such. Issuers mentioned or included in any MSCI ESG Research materials may include MSCI Inc., clients of MSCI or suppliers to MSCI, and may also purchase research or other products or services from MSCI ESG Research. MSCI ESG Research materials, including materials utilized in any MSCI ESG Indexes or other products, have not been submitted to, nor received approval from, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or any other regulatory body.

Any use of or access to products, services or information of MSCI requires a license from MSCI. MSCI, Barra, RiskMetrics, IPD and other MSCI brands and product names are the trademarks, service marks, or registered trademarks of MSCI or its subsidiaries in the United States and other jurisdictions. The Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) was developed by and is the exclusive property of MSCI and Standard & Poor’s. “Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS)” is a service mark of MSCI and Standard & Poor’s.

MIFID2/MIFIR notice: MSCI ESG Research LLC does not distribute or act as an intermediary for financial instruments or structured deposits, nor does it deal on its own account, provide execution services for others or manage client accounts. No MSCI ESG Research product or service supports, promotes or is intended to support or promote any such activity. MSCI ESG Research is an independent provider of ESG data, reports and ratings based on published methodologies and available to clients on a subscription basis. We do not provide custom or one-off ratings or recommendations of securities or other financial instruments upon request.

Privacy notice: For information about how MSCI collects and uses personal data, please refer to our Privacy Notice at https://www.msci.com/privacy-pledge .

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200623005903/en/