Ecopetrol S.A. (EC)

Measures by Colombia stock exchange may allow it to stay in JPMorgan index -president

Measures adopted by the Colombian stock exchange and securities issuers to improve liquidity could be enough for the country to hold onto its "emerging market" classification and stay in a key JPMorgan index, but more progress is needed, the stock exchange's president said. Last year JPMorgan warned Colombia could be excluded from its MSCI emerging markets index and be downgraded to a frontier market due to declining liquidity. The warning sparked a sharp drop in share prices across the stock exchange as a downgrade would drive away foreign investors guided by the bank's indexes.