MSCI adopts non-operating company rule: Strategy and Metaplanet flagged, final list due Nov. 11

MSCI has adopted a new rule that makes "non-operating companies" ineligible for its Global Investable Market Indexes, according to The Block and other outlets reporting on the October 15 announcement. The rule applies in the November 2026 index review and takes effect after the close of trading on November 30. The definitive list of affected companies is due November 11. Until then, nobody is confirmed for removal.

What MSCI actually decided

The method, as reported, has two steps. A core screen asks whether an issuer holds substantial operating assets. Issuers that fail it are tested on five financial ratios that are not industry-specific, and a company that fails at least four of the five is ineligible. In MSCI's August consultation document, the ratios covered operating asset intensity, expense intensity, operating cash flow, fair value changes and dependence on capital raised to accumulate assets.

Buffers soften the blow. A company not already in the index is barred if it fails in either of its two most recent annual filings. A current constituent is removed only if it fails in both. MSCI may also consider the latest interim statements.

The rule also ends the interim measures from October 2025 aimed at companies with digital assets at 50% or more of total assets, such as share-count freezes. Digital asset treasury companies are now judged under the general framework, with no crypto-specific threshold, Crowdfund Insider reported.

Who is flagged, and who is not confirmed

MSCI's August consultation said that applied to May 2026 data, the screen would have deleted three names from the MSCI ACWI IMI: Strategy (MSTR), Tokyo-listed Metaplanet and London-listed Yellow Cake. SharpLink and a few others were flagged for a possible watchlist. The October announcement itself names no company, so those names remain simulation results.

The $2.8 billion figure needs a caveat

Headlines have tied a roughly $2.8 billion outflow to this decision. CryptoSlate attributes that estimate to JPMorgan analysts, but it was made during MSCI's earlier crypto-specific consultation, which MSCI dropped in January. We found no JPMorgan estimate tied to the rules adopted this week. Treat it as a reference point for the scale of passive selling, not a forecast for November.

What Strategy has said

Strategy's executives, Michael Saylor and Phong Le, have criticized the proposal, and in a September letter the company said it would have no meaningful impact on its business, per The Block. Index funds that track MSCI benchmarks would have to sell removed shares, which is the mechanical channel the market is watching.

What to watch

• November 11: MSCI's final list of constituents affected.
• November 30: effective after the close of trading.
• Whether Strategy and Metaplanet fail the screen on their latest filings, which determines if the buffers help them.

Related: Metaplanet's bitcoin position.

Sources: The Block, Crowdfund Insider, CryptoSlate, MSCI consultation on non-operating companies (August 2026). We could not retrieve MSCI's own October release; details are from news reports. Information, not investment advice.