Russia may be removed from MSCI indices as 'uninvestible,' according to reports.

According to information obtained by Reuters from MSCI, Western sanctions and central bank trading restrictions have rendered Russia's stockmarket "uninvestable" indicating that Russian listings will likely be removed from indices.

The removal of Russian listings from indices was the "natural next step" according to Dimitris Melas, MSCI's head of index research and chair of the Index Policy Committee.

"It would not make a lot of sense for us to continue to include Russian securities if our clients and investors cannot transact in the market," he said.

"It is obvious to all of us that the market is very difficult to trade and, in fact, it is uninvestable today.

"The natural next step that we could potentially implement - we haven't made any decision yet - but the natural next step might be to actually consider removing MSCI Russia or removing Russian securities from our indices."

Melas predicted that the outcome of a consultation with investors would be announced within days, along with the steps that would be taken.

Russia is weighted at around 30 basis points in MSCI's global benchmark, and it makes up 3.24 percent of the index provider's emerging market benchmark.

Bloomberg Indices announced earlier this week that three index bonds would be removed from its indices.

By fLEXI tEAM