Definition: American depository receipt

Category: External debt - IMF

An American depository receipt (ADR) is a negotiable certificate that represents ownership of the securities of a non-U.S. resident company. Although the securities underlying ADRs can be debt or money market instruments, the large majority are equities. An ADR allows a non-U.S.resident company to introduce its equity into the U.S. market in a form more readily acceptable to U.S. investors, such as in U.S. dollars, without needing to disclose all the information normally required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A U.S. depository bank will purchase the underlying foreign security and then issue receipts in dollars for those securities to the U.S. investor.The receipts are registered. The investor can exchange the ADRs for the underlying security at any time. See also Bearer Depository Receipts and Depository Receipts.. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/statmanuals/files/external_debt_guide_2003_EN.pdf#page=227