German Firms Want to Drop US Listings

The majority of German companies with a listing on Wall Street want to pull out of New York stock markets owing to the cost and hassle of complying with US regulations, the Financial Times reported on Friday, quoting senior German executives. At least half of the 13 DAX 30 companies listed on Wall Street want to withdraw from the US market, the newspaper quoted one board member from one of the listed companies as saying. The executive's remarks -- made after taking informal soundings from finance directors -- come after comments last week from the finance director of Siemens, who reportedly told the group's banking advisors that the electronics giant was considering a withdrawal. Allianz, Altana, BASF, Bayer, DaimlerChrysler, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Telekom, E.ON, Fresenius Medical Care, Infineon, SAP, Schering and Siemens are all listed in New York. But only three of those -- DaimlerChrysler, Deutsche Bank and SAP -- are committed to their listings, FT said. The cost of maintaining the listings of the German companies are estimated at €30-80 million ($39-104 million). And new legislation, introduced after the Enron and WorldCom scandals, is being blamed for the high level of the costs, the newspaper said. (AFP)