when buying shares of a company located in a foreign country u s citizens will generally buy an adr a certificate that represents those foreign shares 
since the netherlands did not allow dutch company stock to be traded in other countries a certain number of shares must be canceled in the netherlands then grouped and sold as guilder shares that can then be issued in the u s the guilder was also once the name of the dutch national currency before it joined the euro dutch adrs todayan american depositary receipt adr is a negotiable certificate issued by a u s depositary bank representing a specified number of shares often one share of a foreign company s stock the adr trades on u s stock markets as any domestic shares would adrs offer u s investors a way to purchase stock in overseas companies that would not be available otherwise foreign firms also benefit as adrs enable them to attract american investors and capital without the hassle and expense of listing on u s stock exchanges today several dutch adrs are tradeable on u s exchanges several more trade in the u s over the counter otc the ones listed on major exchanges in the u s include 