Cross-border trading as a mechanism for implicit capital flight: ADRs and the Argentine crisis

Cross-listed shares may confound government efforts to control capital outflows by providing a legal means through which investors can transfer their wealth outside the country. We study the recent experience of investors who while subject to capital controls, were able to purchase cross-listed shares using local currency, convert them into dollar-denominated shares, re-sell them abroad, and deposit the dollar proceeds in foreign bank accounts. Capital controls drive a wedge between the price of local shares and their corresponding cross-listed shares. This wedge provides an implicit devaluation forecast and the market's valuation of capital control circumvention. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.