STANDARD ANNOUNCEMENTS - February 15, 2018 at 09:16 PM GMT
Announcement for February 15, 2018 at 09:16 PM GMT

THIS IS AN ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE MSCI GLOBAL STANDARD INDEXES

NEW ANTI-COMPETITIVE MEASURES IMPACTING THE INDIAN EQUITY MARKET

New York - February 15, 2018 - MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of
research-based indexes and analytics, announced today that it is closely
monitoring developments related to the concerted announcement by three Indian
stock exchanges, including the two principal exchanges, of the imposition of
anti-competitive measures restricting the accessibility of the Indian equity
market. MSCI is evaluating the measures' potential impact on existing financial
products and the future accessibility of the Indian equity market for
international institutional investors more generally.

In a clearly negative development for the accessibility of the Indian equity
market for international institutional investors, the exchanges' announcement
made on February 9, 2018 would impose, following the expiration of contractual
notice periods, a set of restrictions on the use of traded price data
inconsistent with the practices of any other market in MSCI's Emerging Markets
Index series and could result in an unprecedented disruption of trading in
financial products in markets around the world.

In their press release, the National Stock Exchange, the Bombay Stock Exchange
and the Metropolitan Stock Exchange announced that they will no longer provide
stock exchange information to any foreign exchange or trading platform for
trading or settling derivatives, and will no longer license or provide market
data to any index provider or its licensees for the creation of indexes or
derivative financial products based on such indexes that would be traded or
settled on a non-Indian exchange or trading platform where the weight of Indian
securities in the index is at least 25%. The restriction would apply to all
derivatives that are traded or settled on a non-Indian exchange or trading
platform, whether they were issued by an exchange or by some other party. The
announcement also refers to the imposition of a written pre-approval restriction
on the issuance of certain ETFs and ETNs or similar products based on indexes,
but the full scope of the restriction is not yet clear.

Based on the exchanges' press release, we understand that the exchanges do not
seek to impose a precipitous or disorderly wind down of the various products
that would be affected in many markets around the world. Nonetheless, given the
breadth of the application of the changes referred to in the announcement, we
believe that if the changes are put into effect, the result will be disruptive
and harmful to international institutional investors in Indian equities whether
accessing the market onshore or offshore.

Under MSCI's Market Classification Framework, anti-competitive measures
restricting investors' access to derived stock exchange information receive a
negative score in the Competitive Landscape category. This is because of their
negative impact on international institutional investors as the range of
available financial instruments may be significantly reduced, limiting ways for
cross-border investors to access a local market or to hedge an exposure to a
local market.

The introduction of restrictive measures that may result in a material
deterioration of the accessibility of an equity market is reviewed carefully by
MSCI in consultation with international institutional investors and other market
participants and could lead to a change in market classification. As stated
above, the breadth of the restrictions announced by the Indian exchanges is
unprecedented in any equity market in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index series.
MSCI strongly suggests the Indian exchanges and their regulator, the Securities
and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), reconsider this unprecedented
anti-competitive action before it leads to any unnecessary disruptions in
trading or a potential change in the market classification of the Indian market
in the MSCI Indexes.

MSCI welcomes feedback from market participants on the Indian exchanges'
announcement and will continue to monitor the situation and release further
communications as warranted.

Media Inquiries
PR@msci.com
Sam Wang     +1 212 804 5244

MSCI Global Client Service
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THIS IS AN ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE MSCI GLOBAL STANDARD INDEXES

                                     End of announcement.
                                     Further announcements may occur as needed.