KARACHI: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the watchdog of Corporate America, gave a go ahead on Tuesday, for the Depository Receipts (ADR) of Fatima Fertilizer Company Limited (FFCL) — an Arif Habib group company to be listed on the Over-the-Counter (OTC) market in New York.

“It does not mean issue of new shares, but the conversion of earlier issued stock into ADRs,” a senior group official said on telephone from NY.

He said that the ADRs would be traded in 'day time' and in dollar terms.

A spokesman for the group said on Tuesday in Karachi that BNY Mellon New York USA, a global leader in Asset management and securities servicing was selected by Fatima Fertilizer as depository bank for its ADR programme.

The ADRs would be traded on the OTC market in New York under the symbol “FTMFY.”

The company's ordinary stock is listed on the three Stock Exchanges in Pakistan.

“SEC of USA conveyed that the filing is in order and the (ADR) programme can proceed,” the group official said.

About the FFCL, a statement released by the company on Tuesday explained that it was incorporated on December 24, 2003, with the objective of setting up a fully integrated fertilizer complex. It would be capable of producing two intermediate products i.e. Ammonia and Nitric Acid and four final products—Nitro Phosphate (“NP”), 360K MT per annum, Nitrogen Phosphorous Potassium (“NPK”), 300K MT per annum Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (“CAN”), 420K MT per annum and Urea, 500K MT per annum at Mukhtar Garh, Sadiqabad.

The Complex included 56 MW captive power plant in addition to off-sites and utilities.

The company had been allocated 110 mmcfd of gas from the dedicated Mari Gas fields.

“On completion, total cost of the Fatima Project will be around $750 million”, the statement read.

CEO at Fatima Fertilizer, Fawad A Mukhtar said: “With over 22 million hectares under cultivation, agriculture is the mainstay of Pakistan's economy.

The company is a significant step in attaining self sufficiency in Fertilizer.”

He observed that a key milestone in company goals was the creation of the ADR programme.

“We will now be able to garner more international exposure and investment to continue to fund our future plans,” he said.

The statement quoted CEO at BNY Mellon's Depositary Receipts business, Michael Cole-Fontayn as saying that as the first Pakistani based company to begin trading on the US OTC markets, the Pakistani ADR would be readily available to both retail and institutional investors.

He added that With the IR advisory and transactional expertise, BNY Mellon could offer the company, the opportunity for enhanced exposure to the world's capital markets.

The group official speaking from NY said that in a day or two, the visiting company delegation would begin to hold meetings with major brokerage firms to promote the product.