South Africa-based Standard Bank Group has established a sponsored American Depositary Receipt (ADR) program effective September 28, 2012 with the ticker SGBLY. Earlier the company traded as an unsponsored DR on the OTC market.

From the BNY Mellon press release:

Founded in 1862 and headquartered in Johannesburg, Standard Bank Group is the largest African bank by assets and earnings.  Standard Bank offers a range of banking and related financial services in 18 countries on the African continent as well as in other select emerging markets. The company has 1,222 branches, including loan centers, and 7,945 ATMs across Africa.  Standard Bank employs more than 52,000 people across all geographies and has a market capitalization of about $20 billion.

“We are delighted to partner with BNY Mellon in establishing a sponsored ADR program and to be traded on the U.S. OTC market,” said Simon Ridley, CFO of Standard Bank Group.  “There is great scope for the expansion of banking services in sub-Saharan Africa, and this ADR program is an exciting new source of potential investors to drive our growth strategy.”

Currently, 36 of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange ‘Top 40’ constituents, by market cap, have a DR program.  BNY Mellon is depositary for 30 of those.  Standard Bank Group is the fifth new South African sponsored DR program established by BNY Mellon since June.

The bank’s latest Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio stands at 11%. Foreign shareholders hold 46.2% of the total outstanding shares with  China’s Industrial and Commercial Bank of China holding a large stake of 20.1%. The bank’s total assets stood at about US $ 189.0 billion as of June 30, 2012.

Standard Bank Group Ltd (SGBLY) closed at  $12.80 and has a dividend yield of 9.85%.

For more information please visit their investor relations site.

Disclosure: No Positions