Overview
- MSCI opened a public consultation in August 2026 that is accepting feedback through Sept. 30 and says it will publish results around Oct. 16 with any changes targeted for the November 2026 index review.
- The proposed two-step test first exempts companies whose operating assets exceed 50% of total assets and then applies five financial-ratio screens where failing at least four of five would make a firm ineligible for MSCI’s Global Investable Market Indexes.
- A May 2026 simulation run by MSCI showed three existing constituents—Strategy, Metaplanet and Yellow Cake—would have been deleted from the MSCI ACWI IMI under the draft rules, while other issuers would be placed on a public watchlist.
- Removal from MSCI benchmarks would mechanically require passive funds that track those indexes to sell the stocks, industry analyses have estimated multibillion-dollar outflows for companies like Strategy, but MSCI itself has not published an outflow estimate.
- Companies flagged by the proposal, led publicly by Strategy, have pushed back and warned the rule could affect fundraising, liquidity and the corporate practice of using equity or debt to buy investment assets, and MSCI previously shelved a narrower crypto-only rule in January 2026 after objections.