THE ROAD OF ROMANIA FROM FRONTIER TOWARDS EMERGING CAPITAL

In the present study I first present the classification system of states by international financial institutions on economic and financial criteria, then focusing on the classification made by Morgan Stanley Capital International. According to it the capital market in Romania is currently a frontier one, the Financial Surveillance Authority pursuing the reclassification as an emerging capital market by August 2016. The findings of the study indicate this term as unrealistic, for several reasons. Thus, curently on the Romanian stock market there are only two entities out of 3 minimum required, respectively S.N.G.N Romgaz and Fondul Proprietatea, which fully meet the size and liquidity requirements imposed by MSCI in order to be reclassified as an emerging capital market. Also it is mandatory making significant progress regarding the effectiveness of the operational framework, progress made to some extent through Project S.T.E.A.M. (Set of actions Towards Establishing and Acknowledgment of the emerging Market status). On this project, after analyzing the degree of completion of the proposed measures in order to reach the primary and secondary objectives, whose deadlines have expired, according to the schedule provided, we found that only 69% of them were fulfilled. Given these considerations I can state that Romania could be reclassified as an emerging capital market at the earliest starting with 2017.