Bamboozled by globalisation? British investors in FTSE 100 index trackers will soon own a mining company controlled by two Kyrgyzstanis (one with Israeli citizenship) and a Belgian passport-carrying Uzbek. A fifth of Eurasian National Resources Corporation is held by the government of Kazakhstan. And prospects are tied to the resources boom in China and India.

On Wednesday, it was confirmed that ENRC is to enter the FTSE 100 index at the end of the month. That is no surprise: since its initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in December, ENRC’s market capitalisation has almost doubled to £12bn, which places it in the top third of stocks in the index. Some of that gain reflects surging commodity prices, but speculators may have also been trying to front-run index tracker funds that will be forced to buy ENRC shares.