MSCI on Thursday froze certain index changes for Turkish equities while it assesses whether measures introduced by Turkish authorities are improving market transparency, warning that Turkey could face a downgrade from emerging market status if sufficient progress is not evident by June 2027. The freeze, effective immediately and in place until further notice, blocks increases to foreign inclusion factors and share counts, additions to the MSCI Turkey Investable Market Index, and upward migrations across size segments arising from index reviews and corporate events.
MSCI said the decision followed concerns raised in its 2026 Market Classification Review about possible coordinated trading through fund holdings closely affiliated with certain smaller listed companies, which it said could undermine the reliability of free float estimates and market integrity. The benchmark BIST 100 is on track for a fifth straight weekly decline and is down more than 20 percent from its record closing high in May, and S&P Dow Jones Indices warned in July that Turkey also risked a frontier market downgrade from its indexes over transparency concerns.