The paper presents the international market of depository receipts, which have been developing since the 1920s and is now in its heyday. Stock exchanges, such as NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX, London Stock Exchange and Luxemburg Stock Exchange, which have decided to include depository receipts in their offer, are developing very rapidly at the moment.

Requirements posed on companies by the first three of the stock exchanges mentioned above are relatively high. Little doubt however, the prestige of being listed on one of them is a serious asset for them. On the other hand, smaller companies may take advantage of lower requirements established by other stock exchanges like the ones in Berlin, Luxemburg or Frankfurt to add depository receipts to their portfolio. Also the geographical structure of companies issuing depository receipts has become more diversified. The numerous benefits of this type of securities are being recognised not only by companies from Western Europe, but also by those from Eastern Europe, Asia and South America.

The introduction of depository receipts is the response to the investors' search for new ways of investment diversification which would be free of any national limitations characteristic of investments in foreign securities. The question worth asking is: What will be the future of the depository receipts market and what potential benefits can be obtained from its development?