Qatar, UAE Bourses Face MSCI Market Upgrade Decision 

(MENAFN - Qatar News Agency) Market securities communities in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would hope the bourses pass global index compiler MSCI's test to be upgraded from their current frontier markets status to emerging markets.

The review for the probable upgrade will take place this Wednesday.
Last December Qatar and the UAE failed for a third time to get the nod for emerging markets status by the MSCI. The UAE and Qatar were previously turned down twice for an upgrade in 2009 and 2010.

In June 2011 the MSCI had deferred its decision for a further six months to allow investors to get used to a new settlement system known as delivery versus payment (DvP).

The MSCI Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) Countries ex Saudi Arabia and the MSCI Arabian Markets ex Saudi Arabia Indices are designed to provide institutional investors with an asset allocation and performance measurement framework for the equity markets in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Built according to the MSCI Global Investable Market Indices (GIMI) Methodology, the MSCI GCC Countries ex Saudi Arabia and MSCI Arabian Markets ex Saudi Arabia Indices offer broad and exhaustive coverage (up to 99%) across large, mid and small cap stocks.

The indices cover the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman, as well as Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and Lebanon.

The MSCI maintains two series of indices. One is applicable to international investors, while the domestic series is aimed at investors not constrained by Foreign Ownership Limits (FOLs).

The MSCI GCC countries indices helps investors evaluate the performance of regional managers; the impact of integrating markets into a portfolio; conduct research on the these markets and construct and issue index-linked products such as listed and Over-the Counter (OTC) derivatives, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), institutional and retail funds.