Greece Cut to Emerging Market at MSCI in World First

Greece became the first developed nation to be downgraded to emerging-market status by index provider MSCI Inc. after the country’s stocks plunged 91 percent since 2007.

The MSCI Greece Index will no longer be classified as a developed market as it failed to meet criteria regarding securities borrowing and lending facilities, short selling and transferability, New York-based MSCI, whose equity indexes are tracked by investors with about $7 trillion in assets, said in a statement. The gauge consists of two companies, Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA, the country’s largest phone operator, and Opap SA, Greece’s biggest gambling firm.