The Bank of New York has been selected by Royal Dutch Shell as depositary bank for its Class “B” American depositary receipt (ADR) program. Each Royal Dutch Shell ADR represents two ordinary shares. The ADRs trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “RDS.B.”
The Class B shares are a result of yesterday’s unification of United Kingdom-based Shell Transport & Trading Company, p.l.c. (Shell Transport) and Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Petroleum Company (Royal Dutch) under Royal Dutch Shell plc. Previously the Royal Dutch/Shell Group was jointly owned by Shell Transport and Royal Dutch. Today, two new classes of ADRs and underlying shares were issued and have begun trading – Royal Dutch Shell Class “A” ADRs and shares and Royal Dutch Shell Class “B” ADRs and shares. The Bank of New York is acting as exchange agent for the mandatory exchange of Shell Transport’s ADRs for the Royal Dutch Shell “B” ADRs.
The Royal Dutch Shell ADR programmes combined now represent the largest company in The Bank of New York’s ADR Index, the only real-time index to track all depositary receipts, New York shares and global registered shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. In addition, Royal Dutch Shell’s ADR programs collectively will be among the world’s largest in terms of overall investment and trading value.
“We congratulate Royal Dutch Shell on this landmark transaction and are gratified to be a part of it,” says Christopher Sturdy, managing director and Head of The Bank of New York’s Depositary Receipt Division. “Our long history with Shell Transport’s ADR programme gives us a clear perspective on the new company’s goals, which we will actively support. At the same time, our innovative products and market leadership give us the tools we need to effectively manage one of the market’s largest ADR programs.”
The Bank of New York currently issues DRs for over 1,190 DR programs from issuers in over 60 countries, representing 64 percent of all sponsored programs worldwide.