Share capital

An American Depositary Receipt (ADR) is a negotiable instrument issued by a depositary bank that evidences ownership of shares in a non-US company. Each ADR represents a specific number of underlying ordinary shares in a non-US company on deposit with a custodian in the applicable home market. ADRs are quoted and traded in US dollars on a US securities exchange and dividends are automatically paid to investors in US dollars.

ADRs were specifically designed to facilitate the purchase, holding and sale of non-US securities by US investors, and to provide a corporate finance vehicle for non-US companies. Aviva has a sponsored Level 1 ADR facility administered by Deutsche Bank.

Aviva’s sponsored Level 1 ADRs trade under the ticker symbol "AVVIY" on OTCQX which is the premier tier of the US Over-The-Counter (OTC) market and are not listed on a US stock exchange.

An Aviva American Depositary Share (ADS) is a US dollar-denominated form of share ownership in Aviva.  ADSs represent ordinary shares held on deposit in the United Kingdom (UK) by Aviva’s depositary bank, Deutsche Bank. An ADR is the physical certificate representing ownership of the ADSs although a majority of ADS holders prefer to hold electronically via a US bank or brokerage account.

ADRs can be purchased by investors or institutions who wish to purchase shares in a foreign company. Investors can either purchase the foreign ordinary shares in the local market through a broker in that country or request their brokers to buy the ADRs in the US. The broker may either purchase existing ADRs available on the US OTC market or arrange for Ordinary Shares in the local market to be deposited with Aviva’s ADR depositary bank, Deutsche Bank, who will then issue new ADRs to the broker.

You can find information on managing ADR Shares here.

You can find information on ADR Dividends here.