New York, December 4th 2012 – BNY Mellon, the global leader in investment management and investment services, and OTC Markets Group Inc., operator of Open, Transparent and Connected financial marketplaces, today announced the creation of the OTCM ADR Index, a comprehensive index for American Depositary Receipts traded on OTCQX, OTCQB and OTC Pink marketplaces.

The OTCM ADR Index, powered by BNY Mellon DR Indices, was developed to benchmark the fast-growing and diverse number of ADR investment opportunities available to investors through their U.S. brokers. Since 2002, the total number of ADRs trading on the OTCQX, OTCQB and OTC Pink marketplaces has increased more than fivefold, from 248 to 1,420. In the first nine months of 2012, 251 new OTC ADR programs were established.

The OTCM ADR Index comprises 535 large-cap international companies, including such names as Banco do Brasil (OTC Pink: BDORY), Bayer AG (OTC Pink: BAYRY), Komatsu (OTCQB: KMTUY), Li & Fung (OTC Pink: LFUGY), LUKOIL (OTC Pink: LUKOY), National Australia Bank Ltd (OTC Pink: NABZY),), Nestle S.A. (OTC Pink: NSRGY), Ping An Insurance Company of China (OTC Pink: PNGAY), Roche Holding AG (OTCQX: RHHBY), Standard Bank of South Africa (OTC Pink: SGBLY) and Wal-Mart de Mexico (OTCQX: WMMVY). In all, 38 countries are represented across 10 industries.

“ADRs offer U.S. investors convenient access to global investment opportunities, and we’re pleased to work with BNY Mellon in offering this first-ever comprehensive benchmark for the largest and most liquid ADRs,” said R. Cromwell Coulson, president and CEO of OTC Markets Group. “By tracking this important asset class, the OTCM ADR Index furthers our mission to create better informed and more efficient financial marketplaces.”

“Providing added visibility to ADRs traded on the OTC Markets will benefit ADR issuers and investors alike,” said Gregory Roath, Asia-Pacific head of BNY Mellon’s Depositary Receipts business. “Our collaboration with OTC Markets Group offers the investment community an index that shows the depth, breadth and liquidity of all ADRs traded on the OTC Markets site. We’ll continue to work closely with our issuers and market intermediaries to enhance the use of ADRs among global investors.”

“The OTCM ADR Index spotlights some of the world’s most well-known companies,” added BNY Mellon’s Roath. “We believe it’s an important next step in our 15 years of creating and disseminating ADR indices.”

Re-disseminated by The Asian Banker