MSCI's New Financial Screen Could Remove Strategy and Metaplanet From Global Indexes

MSCI has opened a public consultation on proposed new eligibility rules that would classify "non-operating companies" and exclude them from its Global Investable Market Indexes (GIMI). A May 2026 simulation found that Strategy (MSTR), Metaplanet, and Yellow Cake plc would be deleted under the proposed methodology, which could force up to $2 billion in passive selling if enacted .

How the two-stage rule works

The proposed screen has two stages :

Stage 1 — Operating assets threshold:

• If operating assets > 50% of total assets, the company passes automatically and no further screening is needed .

Stage 2 — Five financial-ratio tests (applied when operating assets are ≤ 50% of total assets):
Companies that fail the first stage are then checked against five ratios. A company is deemed a non-operating company (and ineligible for index inclusion) if it fails four out of five of these tests :

1. Operating asset ratio — operating assets as a share of total assets
2. Operating revenue ratio — operating revenue relative to total revenue
3. Interest coverage ratio — ability to service debt from operations
4. Cash-flow-to-debt ratio — operating cash flow versus total debt
5. Equity-to-total-assets ratio — leverage and capital structure

Existing constituents face softer thresholds on the five tests compared to new entrants, but Strategy and Metaplanet still failed under the existing-constituent thresholds in the simulation .

Companies affected under the May 2026 simulation

Using May 2026 data on the MSCI ACWI IMI (All Country World Investable Market Index), the simulation flagged :

• Three deletions: Strategy (MSTR), Metaplanet, Yellow Cake plc
• Three additional names placed on a watchlist or with borderline results were also identified, though the exact names aren't widely reported

Timeline and safeguards

Milestone	Date
Public consultation opens	August 2026
Consultation closing date	September 30, 2026
Results announced	October 16, 2026
Earliest effective changes	November 2026 Index Review

Safeguards / grandfathering: The proposed rule includes softer thresholds for existing index constituents (as opposed to stricter thresholds for new entrants). However, the May simulation shows that even those softer thresholds did not save Strategy, Metaplanet, and Yellow Cake . There is no explicit multi-period phase-in reported; the change could apply in full at the November 2026 Review.

Market implications for passive funds

• Forced passive selling: If the rule is adopted, index funds and ETFs that track MSCI GIMI benchmarks would be required to sell their positions in the deleted companies. Estimates suggest up to $2 billion in forced selling across the affected names .
• Concentration risk for Bitcoin-treasury companies: Strategy and Metaplanet are the two largest publicly traded corporate Bitcoin holders. Removal from the broad MSCI indexes would reduce their visibility for institutional and passive allocators.
• Potential precedent: The rule targets any "non-operating company" whose primary value driver is holding assets (e.g., Bitcoin, uranium) rather than generating operating cash flow — potentially affecting other asset-holding vehicles in the future .