Mubasher: Kuwait’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) and Boursa Kuwait are expected to meet an official delegation from Morgan Stanley in February to resume talks about Boursa Kuwait’s upgrade on the MSCI index.

The delegation will hold several meetings with some financial institutions and relevant parties to discuss methods of developing the market to make the Kuwaiti market an attractive investment hub, sources told Al-Jarida newspaper.

All relevant parties have taken the required procedures for the potential upgrade including allowing foreign investors to own a bigger stake of Kuwait’s local banks after the approval of the Gulf nation’s cabinet and recommendation by the Central Bank of Kuwait, the sources added.

Morgan Stanley will consider reclassifying MSCI Kuwait index between February and April, with the decision to come out in June 2019 so that it may be implemented in time for the May 2020 semi-annual index review, the sources noted.

They forecast that the MSCI Kuwait index would have a potential weight of 0.3% in the MSCI emerging markets index.