American and global depositary receipt (DR) trading, assets and index values continued to grow rapidly during the first six months of 2007, according to The Bank of New York Mellon, CNN Money reports.
Nearly $1.3 trillion of DRs traded on U.S. and non-U.S. markets and exchanges during the first half of 2007, up 34 percent year-on-year. Issuers from 13 countries completed 53 new primary and follow-on DR offerings, raising a half-year record $25.8 billion — 72 percent higher than 2006’s mid-year total.
Also during the first half of 2007, companies from 15 countries established 60 new sponsored DR programs. Overall DR price performance, as tracked by The Bank of New York ADR Index(SM), closed at a record high 185.05, up 10.7 percent, year-to-date and up 26.6 percent during the past year.
“Unprecedented interest in cross-border investing continues to drive the expansion of the DR market and we are ideally positioned to service this growth,” says Christopher Sturdy, executive vice president and head of The Bank of New York’s Depositary Receipt Division. “As a result of the recent merger between The Bank of New York and Mellon, our DR issuer clients, as well as their investors and brokers, will benefit from enhanced stock transfer capabilities and the market perspective gained as one of the world’s largest asset managers.”