Date: 16/09/2008

As part of Jordan’s vision for and efforts towards establishing a progressive economy and a dynamic investment environment, the Securities Depository Center (SDC) was established as a public utility institution by virtue of the Securities Law No (23) of 1997 to undertake the role of building and maintaining a transparent and efficient equities market in Jordan and inspiring confidence among local and international investors.

Commencing operations in 1999, the SDC became a vital entity within Jordan’s Capital Market and the only one legally empowered to undertake securities registration, deposit, and safekeeping, as well as transfer of ownership and clearing and settling of securities transactions. Together with the Jordan Securities Commission and the Amman Stock Exchange, the SDC endeavored to accomplish a qualitative leap in the market’s efficiency and viability.

Within its specific mission of attracting investors into the Jordanian Capital market, the SDC adopted the motto of “Business for Social Responsibility”, which is an expression of the importance of operating profitably, while ethically.

As such, SDC makes available a variety of vital services to investors, shareholders as well as its members which include public shareholding companies, such as banks, insurance companies, service companies and industrial companies, in addition to public issuers, brokers and custodians. Such services include investor identification and account set up, statement of ownership balance, statements of account, pledging securities, freezing, online account viewing, statistical data, members’ area and an electronic initial public offering system (e-IPO).

But perhaps the most important role for SDC is in supporting transparency within the capital market through an initiative known as “Data For All, Not Just For Sale”. This initiative was inspired by SDC’s endeavors to encourage transparency within the market, considering that lack of freely accessible information was a major hurdle for effecting transparency in the market. Therefore, SDC designed and launched SCORPIO^® – the Securities Central Operations Registry Processing and Information Online, which enables all users to have real-time data access and verification. SCORPIO^® is currently fully compliant to international standards, integrated with SDC’s daily operations, providing staff, members, investors and shareholders with support at every level.

In its attempts to enhance transparency within the market and to establish confidence among investors everywhere, the SDC provides pages within its website that openly list all essential information and data relevant to its members. This includes companies’ boards of directors, ownership and trades, as well as names of major stakeholders.

As part of its continuous efforts towards developing a sound, structured approach to minimize potential risks, the SDC has undertaken measures to ensure business continuity management and contingency plans Investing in hardware and software components, SDC maintains robust controls on its operations and a constantly updated disaster recovery site that would be capable of recovering data and resuming business efficiently in cases of emergency.

Moreover, SDC adopts unbiased rules and procedures compliant with international standards and best practices to provide a high level of protection to market participants and ensure market’s smooth functioning, and most importantly to uphold the investors’ confidence in the market.