re: adr's (a bit of research), page-2

re: adr's (a bit of research) Sandys,

SSNs primary listing is still on the ASX and this is the only place its actual shares are traded. The US markets trade ADR which are receipts (American Depository Receipts) for actual shares held in a nominee.

So the SSN ADRs are as its states a receipt for a foreign traded stock, ie ASX:SSN.

This has nothing to do with where a company is registered or where it has subsiduaries, where it pays tax or any of that stuff. ADRs are purely about giving US residents the ability to trade in stocks that are listed on other exchanges around the world other than their own. SSN is only formally listed in AU thus US depositories issue ADRs to allow US residents to trade it. If they didn't it would be much harder for Americans to own shares in companies like SSN.

I hope this clears it up for you. You are right, It has been discussed numerous times in the past.