For US investors gone sour on Apple, buying Samsung is tricky
to Thomson Reuters data, compared with an average of 271,053 locally listed Samsung shares on the South Korean market during the same period. The lack of liquidity could add costs such as higher brokerage fees and outdated price quotes when an investor wants to buy or sell.
"You get no information during the day on how much trading there is, so when you put in an order to your broker you might get something quite different than what you were expecting," said Allan Nichols, an international telecom equity analyst at Morningstar who covers the company.
Samsung, which didn't respond to requests for comment, is due to report its fourth-quarter results on Jan. 25. Its shares have gained 24.2 percent in the last six months.
The company isn't alone in its decision to stay away from official ADRs.
As of Sept. 30, there were 1,344 unsponsored ADRs trading in the United States, according to money management firm Cambiar Investors, compared with 909 unsponsored ADRs traded in 2009.
The rise in unsponsored ADRs came after a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule change in 2008 that allowed depository banks such as BNY Mellon and JP Morgan Chase to launch ADRs based on market demand without the consent of a company, according to Cambiar.
Listing fees and SEC disclosure requirements have prompted major companies to bypass sponsored ADRS as well. Swiss food and beverage company Nestle SA, German automaker Daimler AG and British brewer SABMiller Plc are among global companies that trade on the Pink Sheets. Investors
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