In Brief: ADR Trading Way Up, But New Issues Down

Trading volume in American depositary receipts soared in the first three quarters of the year compared to the same period last year, according to Citibank.

However, the number of new issues declined from the previous year because of stagnant economies around the world, the bank reported.

American depositary receipt shares traded on U.S. stock exchanges jumped 45% to 7.5 billion shares. The dollar value of these trades jumped 9% to $200.5 billion.

"The strong trading activity we're seeing in ADRs is due in large part to the impact of last year's record number of companies (launching) ADR facilities," said Ralph Marinello, Citibank's director of American depositary receipt broker sales and services.

"These programs are maturing and generating increasing volumes," he added. "Also, regulatory and tax changes in certain local markets are making it more advantageous in some instances to hold ADRs versus the local ordinaries, and we saw a strong example of this is Latin America recently."

The number of companies issuing American depositary receipts dropped from the record level of last year, as widespread price declines occurred in markets around the world. But the number of issuers should pick up in the fourth quarter, the bank said.

There is a long list of deals already in the pipeline, the bank added, particularly from European, Latin American, and Asian companies.

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