“…Firms that decide to cross-list on U.S. markets can choose exchange-listed programs that are traded on one of the major U.S. exchanges (i.e., NYSE, Nasdaq, and AMEX) and mainly consist of Level II and III ADRs and direct listings. Alternatively, foreign firms can choose unlisted programs that are traded on the over-the-counter (OTC) market (including Level Foreign firms choose to cross-list on U.S. markets for many reasons, including raising new funds at a lower cost (Reese and Weisbach, 2002;Lins et al, 2005;Doidge et al, 2009), increasing their visibility (Baker et al, 2002), improving the liquidity of their shares and broadening their shareholder base (Pagano et al, 2002;Aggarwal et al, 2007), and bonding themselves to stringent U.S. rules to protect their minority shareholders when the legal institutions of their domestic countries are weak (e.g., Coffee, 1999;Stulz, 1999;Reese and Weisbach, 2002;Doidge 2004;Doidge et al, 2004Doidge et al, , 2009). The testing of this "bonding" hypothesis has led to a burgeoning empirical literature on the role of legal institutions in determining the choice of a U.S. cross-listing venue (e.g., Reese and Weisbach, 2002;Boubakri et al, 2010).…”