Key points
- Citi and BNY bring Sivers' depositary banks to four
- Registrations exceed the available share count
- No trading symbols or start dates disclosed
Citibank and BNY each filed to register up to 50 million American depositary shares for Sivers Semiconductors (SIVEF) on October 5, bringing the total to four banks in a week. These shares let US investors hold an interest in Sivers through a US bank.
Deutsche Bank filed on September 29, followed by JPMorgan Chase on September 30. I covered those first two filings last week.
What did Citibank and BNY file?
Both used Form F-6, the SEC form a bank files to register depositary shares, and both took effect right away under the SEC's Rule 466. Each American depositary share, or ADS, stands for three ordinary Sivers shares, the same ratio Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan used.
Both programs are unsponsored, meaning Sivers isn't a party to the depositary arrangements. Citibank's receipt says the company "is not a party to, and has no obligations under, this Receipt", and BNY's legal opinion is titled for "Unsponsored American Depositary Shares". JPMorgan's paperwork used the same unsponsored label.
The registrations don't create new Sivers shares
The four banks registered up to 175 million ADSs between them, representing 525 million ordinary Sivers shares. Sivers had 356,740,332 ordinary shares outstanding on September 29, according to its meeting notice, and the company itself held 12,872,916 of them.
A bank creates an ADS only when ordinary shares are deposited with it, usually after someone buys them on Nasdaq Stockholm, so every ADS is backed by three existing Sivers shares. How many ADSs end up existing depends on how many Stockholm shares get deposited.
When can US investors trade them?
The four filings leave the ticker and start date blank. Sivers' ordinary shares already trade over the counter in the US as SIVEF.
Sivers is also preparing a listing of its own. Its nomination committee wrote in the September 29 notice that the company is working toward "a potential dual listing of the shares in the United States, expected to be completed during the first half of 2027." That's a separate track from the bank programs.
The registrations don't say how many ADSs are outstanding or when trading will begin. Each bank sets its own fees, and Citibank and BNY both say they'll send their fee schedule free to anyone who asks. For ways to buy Sivers now, there's our buying guide.
