OREANDA-NEWS. August 16, 2011. Bradesco has won the sixth selection process for depositary institutions authorized to request registration for trading 10 Unsponsored Level I Brazilian Depository Receipt (BDR) programs, backed by shares issued by publicly traded companies with headquarters overseas.

Bradesco should simultaneously present BM&FBOVESPA and the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM), within 60 calendar days, with the necessary documentation for submission to register the 10 Unsponsored Level 1 BDR programs. The programs should include foreign companies that do not yet have BDRs traded on BM&FBOVESPA and which are headquartered in the United States and listed on U.S. stock exchanges.

There are currently 30 Unsponsored Level 1 BDR programs available for trading on BM&FBOVESPA, which have Deutsche Bank S.A., Citibank DTVM S.A. and Itau Unibanco S.A. as their depositary institutions. Another three lots of ten programs shall be presented to the market soon by Banco Bradesco S.A., Citibank DTVM S.A. and Deutsche Bank S.A.

The Unsponsored Level 1 BDR is a certificate representing stock issued by a foreign-headquartered publicly traded company. It is thus considered a foreign investment from Brazil, in keeping with the definition of CVM Instruction 332.  The issue and registry of Unsponsored Level 1 BDRs is the responsibility of a depositary institution in Brazil in which none of the companies represented has a stake.

BDRs can be traded by financial institutions, investment funds, portfolio managers and stock consultant authorized by the CVM -the last two in the list are only permitted to invest own capital – and by supplementary private pension plans and individuals and companies with financial investments of over BRL 1 million. Other individual investors (with financial investments of under BRL 1 million) can only participate in this instrument via funds.