Mubasher: Kuwait’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA) on Thursday said that MSCI Inc. has postponed the implementation of the reclassification of the MSCI Kuwait Indexes to emerging markets until November 2020 instead of May.  

While the Kuwaiti market remained functional during the past period, MSCI attributed the postponement to the global implications of the coronavirus pandemic on the ability of international institutional investors to perform all works required ahead of the implementation, according to a press release.

In this respect, MSCI emphasised that the MSCI Kuwait Indexes continue to meet all criteria for the classification. However, the precautionary directives that were undertaken by several countries, companies, and institutional investors worldwide to curb the widespread of the new disease, may lead to major operational challenges. 

Moreover, it referred that market participants have experienced difficulties in the process of opening accounts required as a result of the said measures. Accordingly, there will be a growing concern that these investors will not have their accounts open before May 2020.

MSCI concluded that it “deems this postponement necessary to ensure a smooth reclassification implementation for both international institutional investors and local stakeholders.”