Colombia gets to wave its flag in New York this morning, as Ecopetrol (EC) begins open trading as an ADR. The ADR issue is 20 million shares, each one of which representing 20 shares (so if you like, Ecopetrol has put 400m of the shares it trades on the BVC into the US market).For your information, the new ticker symbol for US trading is "EC".
A pity about the timing, because a new emerging market issue is unlikely to get them queuing at the door right now, but it is good to see a new opportunity for world investors to take a stake in Latin America. Particularly true for Colombia, as up to now the only ADR option available for the country has been Bancolombia (CIB).
I recently talked a little more about Ecopetrol in this post that gave a general overview of the Colombian stock market and its opportunities. In very broadstroke terms, think of Ecopetrol as a mini-Petrobras. Finally, for the basic numerical information and background on the company, check out its English language website right here.