Date: 15/05/2004

The Securities Depository Center (SDC) is a public utility institution established by virtue of the Securities Law. The SDC commenced operation in May 1999 and it is the exclusive entity that is legally empowered to oversee the registration of securities; transfer of ownership and safekeeping and clearance and settlement of securities transaction.

The SDC holds the register of the ownership of all issued shares. It has been assigned, in cooperation with the Jordan Securities Commission (JSC) and the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE), the task of bringing about a qualitative leap in market efficiency.

The SDC has been recognized by the Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA) as the sole numbering agency in Jordan for the assignment of International Security Identification Numbers (ISIN). All share books at the SDC are numbered according to the ISIN numbering scheme.

The SDC’s mission is to build a Central Registry and a Depository for securities owners and to conduct clearance and settlement of trading contracts executed at the ASE through applying the delivery versus payment principle.

It has undertaken a number of initiatives, strategic and administrative, in order to build and strengthen its infrastructure, implement world–class systems and provide a safe trading environment for investors. Most noteworthy is the development of the Registry, the establishment of the Depository and the launch of clearing and settlement.

In order to provide for the logical, orderly and practical provision of Delivery versus Payment (DVP), a globally recognized mechanism that ensures good delivery of securities against final payment of funds, the SDC developed its operations in stages. Demonstrating commitment to continuous improvement, the SDC recently implemented the "Account Level" structure, which aims to organize the relationship between the brokers and their clients. In addition, the SDC now enables investors to distribute securities among several accounts maintained by different brokers, freeze shares and obtain an account statement from the SDC.

The SDC developed a system named the "Securities Central Operation Registry Processing & Information Online (SCORPIO)" system. SCORPIO, an SDC-designed and implemented system, is a bilingual system that is a complete solution for the registration, deposit and protection of shareholder assets. SCORPIO consists of a number of systems and modules for registration, depository, Clearing & Settlement and also provides mechanisms for risk management and surveillance of Clearing & Settlement. Its modules include brokers, issuers custodian, JSC surveillance and auditing systems, which taken together enable the SDC to provide investors with a wide range of services.

SCORPIO complies with International Standards and Best Practice. It can communicate with all participants through the Wide Area Network (WAN) already in place in the Jordan Capital Market. In future it will be possible to link it with any trading system because of the STP (straight through processing) module. SCORPIO can also do cash settlement in any currency.

As part of its future plans, the SDC will introduce bond processing, lending and borrowing, a new version of the Pledge and lien System and will also connect to the Central Bank of Jordan's Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS). Also, the SDC is designing smart card communication that will allow individual shareholders, both inside and outside Jordan, to view their holdings and the transactions carried out by their financial brokers. In the longer term, the SDC plans to offer market activity analysis and portfolio valuation and Market-to-Market services.