An American Depositary Share ("ADS") is a vehicle for foreign corporations to list their ordinary equity on an American stock exchange, such as the New York Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ.

Foreign corporations listed in other markets are not permitted to make direct secondary listings in the United States markets, thus this form of indirect ownership has been devised.

ADSs are U.S. dollar denominated and each share represents one or more underlying shares in the subject. These ADSs confer full rights of ownership (including dividends, voting rights) to these underlying shares, which are held on deposit by a custodian bank in the company's home country or territory.

See Related: American Depositary Receipt