MSCI Announces the Results of the MSCI 2026 Global Market Accessibility Review

Key Terms

standalone market financial

A standalone market is the slice of customers and sales a business would reach on its own, without combining products, services, or operations with other firms. Think of it like a single shop’s neighborhood of regular buyers rather than a chain’s total footprint; investors use this view to judge a company’s independent competitive strength, growth potential and vulnerability to rivals or regulation, which affects valuation and deal decisions.

frontier market financial

A frontier market is a national stock market in a smaller or less-developed economy that sits below emerging markets in size, liquidity and regulatory depth. Think of it as investing in a fast-growing small town rather than a big city: it can offer higher growth potential and unique opportunities but also carries greater risks from weak financial infrastructure, limited trading volume, political or economic instability, and harder access for foreign investors.

developed financial

Developed means that a product, technology, program, or plan has been created and progressed to a usable or functional stage rather than remaining an idea. For investors, saying something is “developed” signals reduced uncertainty and that the item may soon generate value or require different funding and regulatory steps—like a prototype becoming a working model that can be tested, sold, or further scaled.

internal rate of return financial

A percentage that represents the annualized yield an investment would earn, taking into account the timing and amount of all cash inflows and outflows; mathematically it is the rate that makes the discounted sum of future cash flows equal the initial cost. Investors use it to compare different projects or deals the way they compare interest rates — a higher internal rate of return suggests a stronger potential payoff, but it does not by itself show risk, scale, or timing nuances.

over-the-counter financial

Over-the-counter describes securities or trades that occur directly between buyers and sellers rather than on a formal stock exchange. Think of it like buying at a flea market instead of a big supermarket: prices, rules and transparency can vary, which can mean lower liquidity, wider price swings and less regulatory oversight—factors investors watch because they affect ease of trading and risk level.

mifid2/mifir regulatory

MiFID II and MiFIR are a pair of European rule sets that act like traffic laws for financial markets: they set how trading must be conducted, reported and overseen to protect investors and make prices and risks clearer. They matter to investors because they aim to reduce hidden fees and conflicts, improve the quality of trade execution and provide more public data about who is buying or selling, which affects costs, access and trust in markets.

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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MSCI released the results of the MSCI 2026 Global Market Accessibility Review. The detailed report, covering market accessibility assessments for 79 markets, has been made available on www.msci.com/market-classification.

Bulgaria is not included in the MSCI 2026 Global Market Accessibility Review report released today. Information for this market will be made available on June 23, 2026, concurrent with the MSCI 2026 Annual Market Classification Review announcement. As a reminder, Bulgaria is under review for potential reclassification from Standalone Market status to Frontier Market status.

The MSCI Global Market Accessibility Review aims to assess and track the evolution of accessibility in individual markets, and to inform market authorities about areas that global institutional investors perceive as not meeting international standards and would welcome improvements.
Consistent with prior years, the MSCI 2026 Global Market Accessibility Review provides a detailed assessment of market accessibility for each equity market included in the MSCI Indexes and evaluates the following five market accessibility criteria:

• Openness to foreign ownership
  
  
• Ease of capital inflows / outflows
  
  
• Efficiency of the operational framework
  
  
• Availability of investment instruments
  
  
• Stability of the institutional framework

These five criteria reflect areas that international institutional investors generally place strong emphasis on when evaluating investment accessibility of a market, including equal treatment of investors, free flow of capital, cost of investment, unrestrictive use of stock market data, and market-specific risk. MSCI uses 18 distinct accessibility measures to assess these five criteria, described in detail in the MSCI 2026 Global Market Accessibility Review report.

Market accessibility, along with economic development and size and liquidity, determine classification of markets into Developed, Emerging, Frontier and Standalone Markets. The classification of markets is a key input in the process of index construction as it determines the composition of the investment opportunity sets to be represented. The results of the MSCI 2026 Annual Market Classification Review will be announced on June 23, 2026. More information on the MSCI Market Classification Framework is available at www.msci.com/market-classification.

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About MSCI

MSCI (NYSE: MSCI Inc.) strengthens global markets by connecting participants across the financial ecosystem with a common language. Our research-based data, analytics and indexes, supported by advanced technology, set standards for global investors and help our clients understand risks and opportunities so they can make better decisions and unlock innovation. We serve asset managers and owners, private-market sponsors and investors, hedge funds, wealth managers, banks, insurers and corporates. To learn more, please visit www.msci.com.

The process for submitting a formal index complaint can be found on the index regulation page of MSCI’s website at: https://www.msci.com/index-regulation.

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