Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group
ESMA • 201-203 rue de Bercy • CS 80910 • 75589 Paris Cedex 12 • France • Tel. +33 (0) 1 58 36 43 21 • www.esma.europa.eu
I. Introduction to Depository Receipts
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1. A depositary receipt (DR) is a negotiable certificate issued by a bank representing shares in a foreign
company traded on a local stock exchange or sold directly to investors. The depositary receipt gives
investors the opportunity to hold shares in the equity of foreign countries and gives them an alternative
to trading on international markets. One of the most common types of DRs is the American depositary
receipt (ADR) listed on American stock exchanges, which has been offering foreign companies, US in-
vestors, and traders global investment opportunities since the 1920s.
2. A depositary receipt is an alternative to trading directly with the stock exchange in the foreign market.
Instead, investors transact with a major financial institution or exchange within their home country, which
is often more convenient than purchasing stocks directly in foreign markets.
II. Types of Depositary Receipts
3. Depositary receipts are available around the world in different local flavours: American depositary re-
ceipts (ADRs), global depositary receipts (GDRs), European DRs, and international DRs. While ADRs
are traded on a U.S. national stock exchange, GDRs are commonly listed on European stock exchanges
such as the London Stock Exchange or the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Both ADRs and GDRs are usually
denominated in U.S. dollars, but can also be denominated in euros.
4. A foreign company intending their share to be available to investors in the EU without listing here can
accomplish this via a GDR. The foreign company enters into a depositary receipt agreement with a de-
pository bank. In turn, the depositary bank issue shares in regulatory compliance with both jurisdictions,
the country of domicile of the company and the EU for European investors. DR holders do not have to
transact in foreign currencies because DRs are usually traded in the home currency of the investors (e.g.
Euro) and are processed by the local clearing and settlement systems.
5. Depositary receipts provide investors with the benefits and rights of the underlying shares, which may
include voting rights, dividends, and open up markets that investors would not have access to otherwise.
Depositary receipts may be more or less convenient (transposing e.g. taxation, currency and other as-
pects to the jurisdiction of the investor) and can be more or less expensive than purchasing stocks in
foreign markets. Depositary receipts help international companies to raise capital globally and encourage
international investment.
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https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/depositaryreceipt.asp
2 December 2022
ESMA22-106-4322
ADVICE TO ESMA
SMSG own position paper: Depositary Receipts and Geopolitical Risks
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6. In order to establish any type of DR program, the issuer assembles a team of advisors that typically
includes investment bankers, lawyers and accountants. The issuer also selects a depositary bank, a key
partner that enlists the services of a local market custodian and other key support service providers to
assist in the implementation of the program. The issuer and the depositary execute a deposit agreement,
a contract which sets forth the terms of the DR program. Based upon the contract, the depositary per-
forms certain specific services on behalf of the issuer and the DR holders. Many of these same parties
may play key roles in the long-term development and day-to-day management of the issuer’s DR pro-
gram.
7. It is the responsibilities of the depositary / issuing bank guaranteeing that there are underlying original
shares backing the issuance of the DR. The way the depositary bank will manage the DR, which juris-
dictions are involved, whether the holding is direct in the CSD of the country of origin of the issuer or via
omnibus or nominee account through an ICSD /Euroclear or Clearstream) will differ between the various
DR programs and is usually stipulated in the terms of the DR program, which are difficult to find for retail
investors and which are not clear, intelligible and concise given their length, legal verbiage, and techni-
cality.
8. Disadvantages of depository receipts can be that investor access is restricted to certain group of inves-
tors, that they may trade at relatively low liquidity and they may also come with significant administra-
tive/custodial fees. Sometimes cumulative taxes are to be taking into account. Depositary receipts do
not eliminate geopolitical risks including currency risks for the underlying shares in another country. Div-
idend payments made in local currency are converted for example to Euros, net of conversion expenses
and foreign taxes. The conversion is done in accordance with the deposit agreement. Finally, the depos-
itary receipt may be withdrawn at any time, and the waiting period for the shares being sold and the
proceeds distributed to investors may be complex. DRs are complex and risky instruments, notably tak-
ing into account the protection of less informed end investors.
III. Depository Receipts on Russian Companies under EU Sanctions
9. In several European markets, notably Germany and the UK, DRs on Russian shares were sold to both
institutional and end investors. These DRs were issued by investment /depository banks, for which
original shares are held in custody by those issuing banks and the DRs certify the ownership of the
shares. On 24 February 2022 Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. This war and the resulting crimes trig-
gered international sanctions which have disrupted the DR market.
10. Trading in these DRs was already suspended in March 2022 as a result of EU sanctions. As a counter
sanction, the Russian legislature enacted Law no. 114-FZ, according to which Russian companies had
to suspend the agreements with the depositary banks with regard to their ADR/GDR programs. Subse-
quently most Russian issuers complied with this regulation and terminated their DR programmes.
11. The depositary banks then offered investors to exchange the DRs for ordinary shares in the Russian
companies. The procedure for the exchange was supposed to be as follows: The depositary bank opens
a nominee account with a Russian bank that is not sanctioned, such as the Gazprom Bank. Such an
exchange would at least change the ownership position of the respective investor in a direct shareholding
in the Russian company, hoping that after a regime change in Moscow it would regain value and trading
would again be possible. Thus, EU Investors would at least maintain the asset rights for the future.
12. This exchange was subsequently made more difficult by further sanctions:
a) Due to the sixth EU sanctions package published on 03.06.2022 the exchange program for the DRs
with Russian shares as the underlying security was suspended. DG FISMA clarified that due to the
Council Regulation (EC) No. 269/2014, all trading activities with Russian securities and Depositary
Receipts conversions that benefited Russian entities (such as the Russian Central Security Depos-
itory NSD) are prohibited. NSD announced in July that it will not charge any fees during a certain
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period and that NSD would not derive any economic benefit from the exchange. The period during
which NSD does not charge any fees had in the meantime been extended until 15 October 2022.
b) In July, Moscow finally offered investors a supposed solution, the so-called "Russian way”. The
holder of the securities may apply to the Russian depository, where the foreign nominee holder's
securities account is held, an application for "compulsory transfer of the accounting rights." While a
number of investors have taken this route and DRs could be exchanged for ordinary shares, this
has largely been unsuccessful due to notaries, among others, refusing to certify documents with
reference to the EU sanctions, and banks refusing to issue the necessary documentation due to the
EU sanctions. It also has created significant uncertainty of actual ownership with several DR issuers
suspending any conversions.
c) On 1 August 2022 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued order A22090 limiting
the conversion by possibly including DRs under the rules of so-called Low Priced Securities (LPS).
These are defined as securities traded over the counter that cost less than USD 5.00. The risks
associated with such LPs (strong price volatility, susceptibility to market manipulation) justify, ac-
cording to the U.S. authorities justify special investor protection.
d) Furthermore, all dividend and interest payments made by Russian entities have not been received
by the beneficial investors in the EU, due to the EU sanctions.
IV. SMSG opinion
13. For the SMSG this raises strong concerns of investor protection and the more general questions on the
regulation of DR programmes in the European Union. The specific issue of Russian DRs also raises
some specific questions to EU authorities, especially ESMA and the EU Commission.
14. The SMSG fully supports the EU Sanctions against Russia and condemns the illegal aggression and the
war on Ukraine.
15. However, in the particular question of how to ensure asset rights of EU investors are maintained to the
largest extent possible, we think it is important to ensure that the trust into the EU system of investing is
maintained and that sanctions to the largest extent possible punish Russian actors, but, whenever pos-
sible, not EU citizens’ rights seen on a longer term perspective/end of war. As such we would ask ESMA
and the EU Commission to provide guidance and a clear harmonised approach to EU citizens maintain-
ing at least their asset rights (incl. rights to dividends) in Russian companies.
16. On the more general question of DRs the Russian example has shown that investors are not fully aware
of the risks inherent to DRs such as the operational, conversion and geopolitical risks. Next to the quickly
changing sanction rules, also a lack of transparency on DR programs, e.g. regarding the custody of
underlying shares, is contributing to this.
17. The high complexity of these programmes, the divergent practices and legal frameworks, in the view of
the SMSG call for clear regulation on DR programmes sold in the European Union.
18. As regards EU DR regulation, while DR are not unknown for EU regulations there is not a specific DR
regulation (contrary to the US) that governs how DR should be structured and how EU or national au-
thorities may react to specific situations affecting DR as in the current case. An EU DR regulation would
be a measure to protect clients' assets.
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This advice will be published on the Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group section of ESMA’s website.
Adopted on 25 November 2022
[signed]
Veerle Colaert
Chair
Securities and Markets Stake-
holder Group
[signed]
Christiane Hölz
Rapporteur
[signed]
Rainer Riess
Rapporteur
