In addition to the foreign banks listed in the New York Stock Exchange(NYSE), there are many banks that trade on the OTC markets. Some of the banks moved to the OTC a few years to due to the high listing fees charged by the New York Stock Exchange. Others prefer the easier listing and regulatory requirements of the Over-The-Counter markets.

The table below lists forty two foreign bank stocks that trade as Sponsored ADRs in the U.S.:

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Some of the stocks shown above have very light trading volumes.Others do not trade at all on a daily basis. Though these trade on the OTC markets, some of them are large banking groups in the home countries. For example Societe Generale (OTC: SCGLY) and BNP Paribas (OTC:BNPQY) branches can be found through out France. Both the banks have decent daily trading volumes and are up about 50% and 92% respectively YTD.

Among the Asian banks, Singapore-based banks United Overseas Bank(OTC:UOVEY) and DBS (OTC: DBSDY) are stable long-term growth stocks. As Singapore and other South East Asian countries recover from the recession DBS and UOB will perform well.

Among the lesser known banks, DNB Nor ASA of Norway(OTC:DNBHY), NedBank of South Africa (OTC: NDBKY) and Hang Seng Bank (OTC: HSNGY) of Hong Kong can be researched further for potential investment opportunities.