Canada is home to almost a third of the foreign companies registered and reporting to securities regulators in the U.S., according to new data from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
There were 912 foreign companies registered and reporting to the SEC in the U.S. as of Dec. 31, 2014, the SEC’s corporate finance division reports, and 295 of them are based in Canada. Offshore haven the Cayman Islands is in a distant second place with 121 listings, followed by Israel with 83.
Economic powerhouse China sits in 15th place, with just 11 companies. In contrast, the tiny Marshall Islands is home base for 44 companies that report to the SEC. The British Virgin Islands rounds out the top five with 36 companies, putting it ahead of the U.K., which has 33 companies registered with the SEC.
Of the 295 Canadian issuers, 102 trade over the counter (OTC) in the U.S.; 86 are listed on the New York Stock Exchange’s (NYSE) main market; another 55 trade on the NYSE MKT/Arca small cap venue; 38 trade on Nasdaq’s mid-market tier, known as the Global Market; and 14 are listed on Nasdaq’s small-cap tier, the Capital Market.
Canada is the leading source of foreign companies trading on the NYSE and NYSE MKT, and the primary supplier of OTC firms, the SEC reports.
On Nasdaq, the Cayman Islands ranks No. 1 on the Global Market, followed by Israel, with Canada third. Israel takes top spot on Nasdaq’s Capital Market, with Canada second.