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Global stocks that trade on U.S. stock exchanges

Introduction

The U.S. stock market is by far the largest stock market in the world, so many international companies elect to have their stock trade on a U.S. stock exchange. There are several different ways that a foreign company can have their stock trade on a U.S. stock exchange.

An American Depository Receipt or ADR is a mechanism whereby a major U.S. investment bank issues a security (an ADR) that represents ownership shares in the stock of a foreign company that have been deposited with the U.S. bank. ADRs were invented in 1927 as an easy way for a foreign company to have their stock traded in the U.S. For more information, read what is an ADR? You can also see our list of ADRs.

Instead of using the ADR process, some foreign companies elect to directly list their common stock on a U.S. stock exchange, just like a U.S. company. Why? It is not always clear. Sometimes, they just want access to the U.S. stock market, as it is by far the largest in the world. Sometimes, these companies are complex multi-national corporations that have complex histories, being incorporated in one country but with their headquarters located in another company. Sometimes it is difficult to determine where their primary business operations exist. See our list of non-US companies traded on U.S. exchanges. For these companies, their only publicly traded stock is the stock that trades on a U.S. stock exchange (i.e. the U.S. traded stock is their primary listing).

Some foreign companies choose to cross-list their shares on the U.S. stock market. Cross-listing means that a company's stock simultaneously trades on the U.S. stock market and on the stock market of the company's home stock exchange. Cross-listing is particularly popular with Canadian companies. See our list of Canadian companies that trade in the U.S..

Summary by country

Here is a summary of the above securities based on the country:

CountryStock countTotal market cap
China259$716B
Canada219$2.28T
Israel112$215B
United Kingdom96$3.18T
Hong Kong87$8.79B
Singapore60$160B
Bermuda43$207B
Ireland36$1.04T
Brazil31$468B
Cayman Islands30$29B
Australia29$280B
Netherlands23$619B
Switzerland23$630B
Greece22$8.71B
Japan19$1.03T
Luxembourg16$211B
France16$305B
Mexico15$28B
Germany15$449B
Argentina14$36B
Taiwan13$977B
Malaysia13$445M
South Korea11$180B
India9$357B
Sweden8$40B
Chile7$35B
South Africa7$143B
Denmark7$368B
Spain7$287B
Belgium7$148B
Monaco6$5.18B
Puerto Rico6$15B
Peru5$26B
Italy5$116B
Cyprus4$4.28B
Colombia4$4.23B
Macau3$306M
Jersey3$2.80B
United Arab Emirates3$1.61B
British Virgin Islands3$789M
Uruguay3$129B
Finland3$49B
Guernsey2$7.76B
Indonesia2$16B
Kazakhstan2$18B
Norway2$74B
Panama2$5.85B
Thailand2$9.28B
Turkey2$6.03B
Jordan1$1.06B
Gibraltar1$209M
Vietnam1$8.58B
Isle of Man1$344M
Bahamas1$1.98B
Philippines1$4.70B
Costa Rica1$1.13B

Note the large number of Chinese companies that have their stock trading on a U.S. stock exchange. China's complex political and economic model has caused many Chinese companies to have their stocks traded on stock exchanges in Hong Kong and the U.S. You can read more in about China's stock market.

As explained above, the high number of Canadian companies is because so many of the companies that trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange cross-list their shares on a U.S. stock exchange.

Here is a summary of these stocks based on the country classification:

CountryStock countTotal market cap
Developed markets801$11T
Emerging markets444$2.89T
Unknown77$383B
Frontier markets1$8.58B