In Brief: ADR Trading Reached Record 5B in 1st Half

NEW YORK - Trading in American depositary receipts jumped to a record 5.1 billion shares in the first half, representing a 40% increase over the first half of 1994, according to a Citicorp report.

American depositary receipts are U.S. securities that represent shares of stock in a non-U.S. company.

Trading volume was driven by the Mexican economic crisis and later by recovering investor confidence in emerging markets, Citicorp said.

Though the trading was heavier than last year, the dollar value of first-half trading was approximately $130 billion, or about the same as in 1994.

At the end of the first half there were 1,470 depositary receipt programs.

Citicorp, which began offering depositary receipt programs to clients in 1928 as a way to meet their funding needs, serves more than 500 depositary receipt programs.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER