Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), Egypt's biggest listed firm, announced Tuesday afternoon the launch of its American Depositary Receipt (ADR) programme.

“We have chosen to establish an over-the-counter traded (OTC) Depositary Receipt programme in order to meet growing demand by U.S. domiciled investors for denominated security trading in their time zone,” said Mr. Nassef Sawiris, OCI chairman and chief executive officer.

Beltone Financial commented in a press release that the launch of the ADR, which will be traded on the official New York Stock Exchange, "does not coincide with a capital increase or offering of new shares in the company, and has more to do with OCI’s strategy to increase accessibility of the stock to international investors."

BNY Mellon is set to act as the depositary bank for OCI. It is also bank that was used to establish the company's GDR program in London in 2002.

Trading of ADRs on the OTC market began on 15 December, 2010.

Yesterday's announcement did not have a considerable impact on the share price of OCI in the Egyptian stock market, as it started the day with a slight bent before rising by 0.82 per cent.

"The market was not affected by the news because there was no capital increase," explained Ahmed Hendawi of Prime Securities, adding that the launch of the ADR will increase the liquidity of the company and will facilitate any further increase of capital, if needed.