Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange is "positive" about MSCI Inc upgrading the UAE's bourses to emerging market status this year, said Rashed Al Beloushi, deputy chief executive officer.
The country's bourses have met most requirements for the MSCI upgrade and the so-called delivery-versus-payment remains the main criteria to be implemented, Al Baloushi said in a telephone interview yesterday. Abu Dhabi's exchange is coordinating with the Dubai Financial Market to implement DvP, he said.
MSCI classifies six of the Gulf's seven bourses, including those in the UAE and Qatar, as frontier markets. Saudi Arabia's market is not categorised.
MSCI indexes are tracked by investors with an estimated $5.2 trillion (Dh19 trillion) in assets, according to a May 26 report by Shinhan Investment Corp.
"Widespread scepticism abounds concerning DFM and ADX readiness to implement DvP," said Julian Bruce, equity sales head at EFG-Hermes Holding in Dubai. There is no major "cause for concern yet; this sort of development is always undertaken on an 11th-hour basis and I don't expect this time to be any different", he said. MSCI in June cited a dual account structure as one of the reasons for frontier market status of the UAE and kept the country under review for reclassification. The index provider will in June revalue its assessment by examining, among others, economic development, trading volumes and market accessibility.
Dubai's bourse, the only Gulf Arab stock market to sell shares to the public, said on January 31 it would move to DvP in the first quarter to boost its chances for inclusion in the MSCI EM Index. Dubai plans to introduce short-selling as well as securities borrowing and lending later this year, it said.
Qatar Exchange said last month it will move to DvP on April 11 and the first settlement under the new rules will be on April 14.
