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:
| Country | Stock count | Total market cap |
|---|---|---|
| China | 249 | $573B |
| Canada | 217 | $2.71T |
| Israel | 110 | $228B |
| United Kingdom | 89 | $2.93T |
| Hong Kong | 83 | $24B |
| Singapore | 58 | $156B |
| Bermuda | 41 | $208B |
| Ireland | 35 | $1.08T |
| Brazil | 30 | $553B |
| Australia | 29 | $288B |
| Cayman Islands | 27 | $49B |
| Netherlands | 22 | $842B |
| Greece | 22 | $10B |
| Switzerland | 21 | $698B |
| Japan | 18 | $968B |
| Luxembourg | 16 | $199B |
| Mexico | 15 | $31B |
| France | 15 | $323B |
| Germany | 15 | $403B |
| Argentina | 13 | $38B |
| Taiwan | 13 | $1.28T |
| South Korea | 11 | $202B |
| Malaysia | 10 | $182M |
| India | 8 | $360B |
| Denmark | 7 | $245B |
| Sweden | 7 | $42B |
| South Africa | 7 | $236B |
| Spain | 7 | $371B |
| Belgium | 7 | $127B |
| Chile | 7 | $48B |
| Monaco | 6 | $7.55B |
| Puerto Rico | 6 | $15B |
| Italy | 5 | $108B |
| Peru | 5 | $33B |
| Cyprus | 4 | $5.28B |
| Colombia | 4 | $5.56B |
| Jersey | 3 | $1.99B |
| Macau | 3 | $110M |
| British Virgin Islands | 3 | $977M |
| Finland | 3 | $53B |
| Uruguay | 3 | $113B |
| United Arab Emirates | 3 | $1.33B |
| Guernsey | 2 | $7.63B |
| Indonesia | 2 | $21B |
| Kazakhstan | 2 | $16B |
| Norway | 2 | $58B |
| Panama | 2 | $6.55B |
| Thailand | 2 | $16B |
| Turkey | 2 | $5.71B |
| Vietnam | 1 | $7.93B |
| Isle of Man | 1 | $314M |
| Gibraltar | 1 | $284M |
| Jordan | 1 | $1.05B |
| Bahamas | 1 | $2.04B |
| Philippines | 1 | $4.72B |
| Costa Rica | 1 | $2.05B |
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:
| Country | Stock count | Total market cap |
|---|---|---|
| Developed markets | 777 | $12T |
| Emerging markets | 425 | $3.29T |
| Unknown | 75 | $373B |
| Frontier markets | 1 | $7.93B |