Depository interest

We help our international clients gain the full benefits of being a London-quoted company.

Who are we?

We are the UK’s largest share registrar, investor analyser and professional services secretarial team.

We help clients progress in a challenging financial world with confidence, providing the platform to list on global stock exchanges and keep pace with change and investor relations. Our teams support boards at all levels of maturity with ever-changing regulation, governance and shareholder engagement.

How do we help?

We pioneered Depository Interests in 2000 to allow the shares of international issuers to be held and transferred within CREST without the need to incorporate a new holding company in one of the ‘home nations’: The UK, Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man.

Since 2000, Link Group has delivered DI solutions for more than 30 countries. We currently provide services to approximately 100 international companies from the FTSE 100 to small cap, AIM or even unlisted issuers.

A suite of legal documents are required for the formation of a DI facility, including:

• The trust deed poll
• Link Group commercial agreements
• Application forms, and
• A number of UK and local law opinions required by Euroclear UK & Ireland

Link Group will support your investors by assisting with the conversion between ordinary shares and DIs and the movement between markets, ensuring:

• A single pool of liquidity across all trading venues
• Minimum price differences between markets and maximum price transparency
• Low transaction costs for market participants and investors
• Robust controls over the number of shares in issue

Why choose DIs?

The London capital markets have long been recognised as a listing and trading venue of choice for international companies, hosting all types of international companies from early stage tech to multi-national industrial.

The advantages that have attracted such a large number of issuers to London include:

• A well-capitalised investor base
• A deep concentration of the best financial practitioners in the world
• A flexible, principles-based regulatory and governance regime and
• A trusted legal environment.

Any company admitted to trading in London is legally required to ensure that their shares can be held and settled electronically. UK legislation only permits securities issued by companies domiciled in the UK to be held or transferred within in CREST. For this reason, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man adopted equivalent regulatory structures allowing securities from those jurisdictions to access CREST.

To find out more about the opportunities of Link Depositary Interests, please contact capitalmarkets@linkgroup.co.uk