Braskem, the Sao Paolo-headquartered petrochemical company, has appointed BNY Mellon as the successor bank for its American depositary receipt (ADR) programme.

Before the change in depositary bank on 4 January the Braskem programme was with JPMorgan, which had been running it for just under three and a half years.

Each ADR represents two preferred shares, trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol BAK.

Braskem’s preferred shares trade on the BM&F Bovespa under BRKM5.

Braskem is the largest manufacturer of thermoplastic resins in the Americas, with an annual output of over 20 million metric tonnes including other basic chemical and petrochemical products, with an annual revenue of R$54bn ($16.9bn).

The new mandate aims to “ Braskem’s access to American investors”, said Christopher M. Kearns, CEO of BNY Mellon’s depositary receipts business.

BNY Mellon also became the successor depositary bank for the Credit Suisse ADR programme, reported by Global Investor on 28 November. “Global financial services companies are among the best positioned issuers to determine a depositary bank’s service quality,” said Kearns at the time.