LONDON (Reuters) – MSCI, which ranks companies and countries on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance, said on Tuesday it had downgraded Russia and Belarus in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
MSCI said it had cut Russia to ‘B’ from ‘BBB’ and Belarus to ‘B’ from ‘BB’ with immediate effect. Ratings range from ‘AAA’, the highest, to ‘CCC’, the lowest, it said, adding that both had a negative outlook.
“We are monitoring the situation closely and believe there is still significant downside risk to Russia’s ESG Government Rating. It is possible that further developments could yet drive an additional downgrade,” MSCI said in a statement.
(Reporting by Simon Jessop; editing by Huw Jones)
