“Romania being on the watchlist and now on a clear route towards emerging markets is one of the most defining and important events in the whole history of the Romanian capital markets,” Lucian Anghel, Chairman of Bucharest Stock Exchange Executive Board, stated.
The upgrade will depend on the progresses registered in terms of market liquidity and the presence of large companies with significant trading values on the market.
“We are thinking positively about the future, because we have been defining in the right way processes that must have been started and changes that must have been implemented, and, moreover, we had a capability and knowledge to priorities the execution and not to allow severe mistakes to happen on that road. It was just recognized by one of the most respected global agencies rating the markets. There are still meaningful problems to be solved, and I hope that the pace of this process, where BVB often needs a constructive cooperation of other institutions, will be fast,” said Ludwik Sobolewski, CEO of the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
Every September, the FTSE Classification Committee meets to decide upon country classification. If a market meets all the criteria, it is included on the watchlist to be upgraded to a higher category.
Besides FTSE Russell, three other international institutions – MCSI (USA), S&P Dow Jones (USA) and STOXX (Switzerland) – are currently rating the Romanian capital market.
The criteria to be met and analysis process are relatively similar and relate mainly to the value of transactions and size of listed companies, as well as the fast access to the capital market for investors and how they can buy and sell shares.