ZURICH -- STOXX Ltd., the operator of Deutsche Boerse Group’s index business, and a global provider of innovative and tradable index concepts, today announced the results of the annual Emerging and Developed Markets Country Classification review. All changes will become effective at market open on Sep. 19, 2016.
Greece will no longer be classified as a developed market. The country has been classified as an emerging market because it did not meet the criteria which defines the restriction on capital flow.
Hungary will no longer be classified as an emerging market. The country has been unclassified because it did not meet the market liquidity screening requirement. The average trade value of its stocks over the last three available years was below 10 billion US dollars.
Vietnam will no longer be unclassified. The country has been classified as an emerging market because it fulfils all criteria.
No other changes were made to the STOXX Emerging and Developed Markets Country Classification. As of Sept. 19, out of the 65 countries in the STOXX index universe, 25 are classified as developed markets, and 20 are classified as emerging markets. A full list of countries including their classification can be found under the dedicated country classification section of the STOXX website: https://www.stoxx.com/country-classification.
The STOXX market classification model relies on a completely rules-based and transparent methodology, and is the first such concept to exclude any subjective decisions from the process. The five criteria for the classification of a country as a developed marked include macroeconomic data, market cap, market liquidity, free currency convertibility on onshore and offshore markets, and restrictions on capital flows. The data source for the diverse criteria are highly renowned and independent global organizations (i.e. International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and PricewaterhouseCoopers).
Please visit www.stoxx.com for further information.
