Malaysia retained on FTSE Russell Watch List instead of being downgraded. 

FTSE Russell Country Classification Review for Equities and Fixed Income

Malaysia

  • Malaysia retained on FTSE Russell Fixed Income Watch List for potential downgrade from its current Market Accessibility Level of 2.
  • FTSE Russell will continue to engage with market participants to understand the practical impact of recent initiatives announced by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to improve market liquidity and accessibility.
  • Overall viewed positively as fears were of an imminent downgrade for Malaysia. Next updates expected in in March 2020 interim review.

“Congratulations to the authorities in Romania and Tanzania who have worked hard to achieve their promotions. We also continue to track the progress of Vietnam, which remains on our Watch List. FTSE Russell continues to engage with the Argentinean market authorities to ascertain the longevity of the recently introduced capital controls. Our strong, transparent country classification framework ensures our indexes are an accurate representation of global markets and we will continue to work with our global clients to provide benchmarks and analytic solutions to facilitate their equity investments.” ~Joti Rana, Head of Index Governance and Policy, Americas

Other Countries

  • Romania, currently a Frontier market, to be reclassified as a Secondary Emerging market, effective from September 2020.
  • Tanzania, currently unclassified, to be included as a Frontier Market, effective from September 2020.
  • Argentina is removed from the Watch List for possible reclassification to Secondary Emerging market status due to the imposition of capital controls.
    Vietnam is retained on the Watch List for possible reclassification from Frontier to Secondary Emerging
  • Israel to be added to FTSE World Government Bond Index (WGBI) and FTSE World Inflation Linked Securities Index beginning April 2020 comprising 0.29% of the index.
  • China will remain on the Watch List for potential upgrade to Market Accessibility Level 2 based on feedback from index users that the Chinese government bond market continues to make demonstrable progress towards meeting the criteria for the highest accessibility level.

About FTSE Russell

  • FTSE Russell is a leading global index provider creating and managing a wide range of indexes, data and analytic solutions to meet client needs across asset classes, style and strategies.
  • Covering 98% of the investable market, FTSE Russell indexes offer a true picture of global markets, combined with the specialist knowledge gained from developing local benchmarks around the world.
  • FTSE Russell index expertise and products are used extensively by institutional and retail investors globally. Approximately $15 trillion is currently benchmarked to FTSE Russell indexes.
  • For over 30 years, leading asset owners, asset managers, ETF providers and investment banks have chosen FTSE Russell indexes to benchmark their investment performance and create investment funds, ETFs, structured products and index-based derivatives.
  • A core set of universal principles guides FTSE Russell index design and management: a transparent rules-based methodology is informed by independent committees of leading market participants.
  • FTSE Russell is focused on index innovation and customer partnership applying the highest industry standards and embracing the IOSCO Principles. FTSE Russell is wholly owned by London Stock Exchange Group.

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