Date: 01/04/2009

To deal with a new influx of trade and private-sector activity, Jordan had no choice, but to modernize. Mr. Samir Jaradat, CEO of the Securities Depository Center (SDC) states: "Jordan has proven that we have the capability, know-how and human resources to meet the high standards."

He proudly explained the collaborative effort with USAID by implementing the SCORPIO system, a bilingual technology that provides a complete platform for registration and settling financial transactions linking the SDC with brokers, issuers, and data vendors. Mr. Jalil Tarif, CEO of the Amman Exchange (ASE) one of the leading stock exchanges in the region, says high standards have been met, and ASE is "one of the few stock exchanges accepted in the World Federation of Exchanges for mature exchanges." Clearly, Jordan's financial institutions are aware that with steady growth comes technological advances.