Greece may be dropped from MSCI
Crisis-racked Greece has become the first country to face the threat of relegation to emerging market status from the elite league in MSCI’s equity indices, although the index provider said yesterday any such move is unlikely before 2014. Analysts say that any downgrade would likely happen only if Greece exits the euro, a scenario the country’s new coalition government is keen to avoid. MSCI, which has $7 trillion (£4.46 trillion) benchmarked against its indices globally, said yesterday that Greece was no longer in line with markets’ size requirements. It also said Greek authorities had not addressed concerns over certain transactions. MSCI criteria include investor access, market size and liquidity, and the country’s overall wealth.