Six months ago, overseas companies saddled with listings on U.S. stock exchanges finally won the right to head for the exits. A steady exodus has rolled along ever since.
Foreign issuers had long complained of the “roach motel” trap of listing on the United States: Once they did list here, they had no simple way to delist should their U.S.-based shareholder population dwindle so much that a listing was no longer worth the expense. As part of a broader effort to make U.S. capital markets more competitive, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved a rule last year that drastically eased the deregistration process.
