US holders have now garnered 37% of the issue of Racal Telecommunications Plc shares made last October: Racal Electronics Plc of course holds 80% of the total, but another 7.41% is now in the hands of Bank of New York’s BNY (Nominees) and Racal has no idea whether the nominee account shields just one, or hundreds of holders of ADRs, American Depository Receipts in the company; shares in foreign firms that are traded in New York as well, are usually held by Americans in the form of ADRs, a convenience created to avoid the need for share certificates to wing their way endlessly back and forth across the Atlantic.
