• To Announce Semi-Annual Index Review Nov. 13

The Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) on Friday admitted the success of the ongoing intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the foreign exchange segment of the inter-bank market
MSCI, an American provider of equity, fixed income, hedge fund stock market indexes, and equity portfolio analysis tools based in New York, said it is retaining Nigeria in its Frontier Markets Indexes.
The market will be removed from the review list for potential reclassification to Standalone status 14 months after being added to the review list for potential reclassification to Standalone status in November 2016, citing concerns about Nigeria’s foreign exchange market that resulted in impairment in the ability of institutional investors to repatriate capital.
It would be recalled that as a way out, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on April 21, 2017, announced the establishment of the Investors’ and Exporters’ FX Window to improve liquidity in the foreign exchange (FX) market.
This, market participants say, has eased the process of repatriating funds at close to the official rate, just as concerns on the spreads and delays which investors have earlier experienced have also eased.
In a statement, the MSCI said it will also no longer apply the special treatment for the MSCI Nigeria Indexes announced on April 29, 2016.
“More specifically, and as part of the upcoming November 2017 Semi-Annual Index Review, MSCI will implement all index review changes, including changes in the Number of Shares (NOS) and Foreign Inclusion Factors (FIF) that have been postponed since April 29, 2016.”
The changes will be made for securities classified in Nigeria in the MSCI Nigeria Indexes and in indexes which Nigeria is a component of, including the MSCI Factor, Thematic, ESG and other relevant derived indexes.
MSCI said it will also resume the regular implementation of corporate events effective immediately.
Index review changes for the MSCI Nigeria Indexes will be announced together with the November 2017 Semi-Annual Index Review announcement on November 13, 2017.
The CBN had spent about $10bn on the forex intervention as at end of August.