Index provider MSCI has adopted new rules that could remove Strategy (MSTR) and Japan's Metaplanet from its major global equity indexes. The framework targets companies that primarily hold investments rather than run operating businesses, and it follows an industry consultation the provider launched in August. Because many funds track MSCI indexes passively, index membership determines which stocks automatically appear in fund portfolios — the reason deletion decisions carry operational consequences for the companies involved.

MSCI will publish its final list of affected companies on November 11 and apply the resulting additions and deletions after markets close on November 30.

How MSCI Will Screen Companies

Under the methodology, MSCI will first check whether a company holds enough assets tied to actual business operations. Firms that fail this initial operating asset screen will then face five further financial tests covering spending, cash flow, asset values, and outside funding.

Companies flagged under at least four of those five tests cannot enter the indexes. Existing members must generally fail in both of their two latest annual reporting periods before MSCI removes them. The provider may also consider recent published interim company filings when conducting the review.

Strategy and Metaplanet Faceletion Review

An earlier trial run of the methodology, using May data, identified Strategy, Metaplanet, and British uranium investor Yellow Cake as candidates for possible deletion. None of the three has received a final removal decision under the new review. The flagged group spans corporate bitcoin treasuries and a commodities investment firm, a mix that shows the screening reaches beyond digital-asset businesses to holding-heavy companies in other sectors.

Strategy recently bought another 250 Bitcoin, taking its total holdings to 848,250 BTC. Its October 12 regulatory filing also recorded $192.4 million spent repurchasing STRC preferred shares.

The company disputes its proposed classification. Executive Chairman Michael Saylor has said the firm operates a software business and a Bitcoin treasury business, rather than functioning as an investment fund. In an August post on X, Saylor argued that MSCI should reflect the market rather than judge which companies belong. His statement matched Strategy's formal objection to the proposed index tests. At stake is a definitional question the new framework forces index providers to answer: whether a corporate bitcoin treasury counts as an operating business or an investment portfolio.

Index Funds May Need to Sell Shares

If MSCI removes Strategy from its indexes, funds that track them may be required to sell MSTR stock. JPMorgan analysts previously estimated approximately $2.8 billion in potential outflows for Strategy under an earlier version of the exclusion plan. Any such sales would be executed in Strategy shares, not its Bitcoin reserves, but they could still affect the company's capacity for future equity financing.

Separately, Strive announced another Bitcoin purchase while seeking financing through preferred shares.

Timeline for a Final Decision

MSCI also plans to end the temporary restrictions it placed on companies with large digital asset holdings, meaning future reviews would assess them under the same framework as other listed companies. Ahead of the November decision, Saylor discussed Bitcoin and digital credit in a recent interview.

The November 11 review will determine which current members face exclusion. Until MSCI releases that list, Strategy and Metaplanet remain candidates for exclusion rather than confirmed deletions.

Source: CoinCentral