FTSE Russell to strip Argentina stocks of frontier market status

Argentina will be dropped from the FTSE Russell's frontier market index from September unless it eases capital controls, the index provider said on Wednesday during its interim review of global equity markets.
Faced with an economic and debt crisis and a steep drop in the peso currency, Argentina imposed capital controls last year, with the central bank later opting to keep them in place to help the country manage its financial crisis.
FTSE Russell said it will downgrade Argentina's status to unclassified effective in one tranche from September, subject to existing capital controls not being removed by Sept. 28.
Peru will also be reclassified from secondary emerging to frontier market status in one tranche from September, it said in a statement late on Tuesday. Romania will be lifted from frontier to secondary emerging market status, effective in one tranche from September subject to a minimum of two Romanian securities meeting the FTSE Global All Cap Index eligibility screens, FTSE Russell said.