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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$700B
Canada219$2.33T
Israel112$227B
United Kingdom96$3.16T
Hong Kong87$19B
Singapore60$159B
Bermuda43$209B
Ireland36$1.06T
Brazil31$477B
Cayman Islands30$33B
Australia29$285B
Netherlands23$635B
Switzerland23$650B
Greece22$9.05B
Japan19$1.04T
Luxembourg16$214B
France16$306B
Mexico15$28B
Germany15$462B
Argentina14$34B
Taiwan13$1.05T
Malaysia13$289M
South Korea11$201B
India9$366B
Sweden8$38B
Chile7$38B
South Africa7$136B
Denmark7$333B
Spain7$292B
Belgium7$144B
Monaco6$5.15B
Puerto Rico6$16B
Peru5$27B
Italy5$119B
Cyprus4$3.95B
Colombia4$4.45B
Macau3$225M
Jersey3$2.82B
United Arab Emirates3$1.57B
British Virgin Islands3$746M
Uruguay3$132B
Finland3$49B
Guernsey2$8.80B
Indonesia2$16B
Kazakhstan2$18B
Norway2$71B
Panama2$6.03B
Thailand2$10B
Turkey2$6.31B
Jordan1$1.08B
Gibraltar1$210M
Vietnam1$8.51B
Isle of Man1$369M
Bahamas1$2.20B
Philippines1$4.89B
Costa Rica1$1.26B

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$2.97T
Unknown77$390B
Frontier markets1$8.51B