BASF Will Leave New York Stock Exchange

BASF has joined a growing list of foreign companies that have decided to voluntarily file for delisting of their American Depositary Shares (ADS) from the New York Stock Exchange. BASF says it expects the delisting to become effective on Sept. 6.

ADSs are shares issued under a deposit agreement representing the underlying share of stock that trades in the issuer's home market. Other European chemical companies that have chosen to delist their ADSs include ICI, Akzo Nobel, and Ciba Specialty Chemicals. All of them seem to be taking the step to save money.

"Our decision to delist from the New York Stock Exchange underlines BASF's continuous efforts to reduce complexity and costs," BASF Chairman J??rgen Hambrecht says. According to the company, the move will save about $6.8 million per year. Despite the delisting, BASF says it will maintain "the high level of disclosure expected by the international financial markets."

Likewise, ICI said its decision to delist is expected to generate savings of at least $8 million per year. It says the costs are incurred in the use of external suppliers and auditors to support the company's compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was signed into law in 2002 in response to a number of U.S. accounting scandals.