The exodus of European firms from delisting their stocks on the New York Stock Exchange continue to climb. On Friday German auto maker Daimler AG(DAI) became the latest company to announce plans to delist from the NYSE. This follows the announcement of Deutsche Telekom AG (DT) two weeks ago to delist from the exchange. After these two delistings, just four of the large German companies will trade on the NYSE.
French insurer AXA SA already trades on the OTC markets. Hellenic Telecom(OTE) of Greece has also announced plans to delist from the Big Board.
According to a Wall Street Journal article, some of the reasons for the delistings from the NYSE include:
- Many European firms view US listing as a liability
- Foreign investors are able to invest directly via electronic trading platforms in their domestic markets
- Listing requirements have risen on overseas markets
- Cost of complying to U.S. regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has become burdensome
- The prestige of a US listing has faded since Enron and the financial crisis
- The daily trading volume of stock relative to global trading volume is lower for some companies
With the removal of Daimler and Deutsche Telekom, the only four German companies that will continue to trade on the NYSE are Siemens (SI), Deutsche Bank(DB), Fresenius Medical Care(FMS) and SAP AG(SAP).
Other European firms that have already delisted their stock from the NYSE are:
- Allianz (OTC: AZSEY)
- Infineon Technologies (OTC: IFFNY)
- Qimonda (OTC: QMNDQ)
- Altana
- Epcos
- Bayer (OTC: BAYRY)
- Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology
- E.ON AG (OTC: EONGY)
- BASF Group (OTC: BASFY)
- SGL Carbon
However some firms such as E.ON continue to trade on the OTC markets as noted above.
The full list of German stocks that trade on the US markets can be found here.
