Banco Santander Chile has appointed BNY Mellon as the successor depositary bank for its American depositary receipt (ADR) programme. Each ADR represents 400 ordinary shares and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol 'BSAC.'
As of December 31, 2014, Banco Santander Chile laid claim to being the largest bank in Chile in terms of total assets and equity, with total assets of $50.2 billion and equity of $4.3 billion. It employed more than 11,000 people, and had the largest private branch network in Chile, with 474 branches.
The Santiago-headquartered bank also had one of the best risk ratings in the region with an A+ by Fitch, A by Standard and Poor's, and Aa3 by Moody's as of 2014 year end.
Robert Moreno, its managing director of Investor Relations, describes the US as a key strategic market in terms of its investor relations effort. "Santander Chile, one of Chile's most liquid stocks, has a long history of working with US investors and is looking forward to taking this to the next level by continuing to build a successful ADR programme in conjunction with BNY Mellon,” he added.
Christopher M Kearns, CEO of BNY Mellon's Depositary Receipts business, notes that BNY Mellon has been in the Chilean market for over 25 years, having established the first ADR programme there in 1990. He says its deep roots in the market give it a strong foundation to help Santander Chile in making the transition from the incumbent to BNY Mellon as seamlessly as possible.
