Is the honeymoon over?, page-136

OK. My simple explanation only, may not be 100% correct.

To do a foreign company listing on the NASDAQ the company has to cover what are called American Depository Shares with equivalent shares from their exchange, i.e. ASX. for each share sold by a broker they need to hold x ASX shares.
ow the minimum that an ADS can go to is US $1, and normally the backing shares need to prop up teh ADS above the US$1. Therefore after fx conversion the number of ASX shares must ensure there is enough wriggle room to never fall below $1

An ADS

Foreign stock issued in the US and registered in the ADR system.

An ADR
Certificates issued by a US depository bank, representing foreign shares held by the bank, usually by a branch or correspondent in the country of issue. One ADR may represent a portion of a foreign share, one share or a bundle of shares of a foreign corporation. If the ADR's are "sponsored," the corporation provides financial information and other assistance to the bank and may subsidize the administration of the ADR. "Unsponsored" ADRs do not receive such assistance. ADRs are subject to the same currency, political, and economic risks as the underlying foreign share. Arbitrage keeps the prices of ADRs and underlying foreign shares, adjusted for the SDR/ordinary ratio essentially equal. American depository shares (ADS) are a similar form of certification.