Date: 14/10/2003

The Securities Depository Center of Jordan (SDC) today released a CD presentation which highlights the evolution of the SDC since its establishment in 1999. The development and experience of the SDC is unique in that it is the first Middle East depository built with local talent and expertise.

The main goal of the SDC is to maintain a Central Registry and Depository committed to international best practices for the clearance and settlement of securities traded on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE).

During the last three years, the SDC has evolved into a fair, efficient and transparent institution. The SDC has undertaken a number of technical, strategic and administrative initiatives in order to build and strengthen its infrastructure, implement world-class systems and provide a safe trading environment for Jordan’s investors. Most noteworthy of the SDC’s achievements, is the development of the Registry, the establishment of the Depository, and the launch of electronic clearing and settlement.

The SDC’s centralized Registry contains all issuer share books in electronic format and tracks the legal ownership of all shares, and the electronic Depository contains the market positions of all fully authenticated shareholders. Both the issuer share books and market positions were previously tracked manually, a system prone to error and redundancy.

The new state-of-the-art electronic clearing and settlement system accelerates and expedites the process of authenticating shareholder information by requiring issuers, brokers and shareholders to authenticate shareholder records before a trade is executed. Currently, the SDC maintains all shareholder registries with (118,000) authenticated shareholders which account for more than 83 percent of all issued shares traded on the ASE.

In addition to the aforementioned systems, the SDC developed 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.

These new technologically advanced systems meet the international standards of IOSCO’s Technical Committee, the Bank for International Settlement’s Committee on Payment & Settlement Systems (CPSS), the Group of 30 and the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE). They provide for timely security settlement and help minimize settlement risks, thus enhancing domestic and international investor confidence in the Jordan Capital Market.

Demonstrating its commitment to continuous improvement, the SDC recently implemented a policy which allows brokers to sell only those securities owned by their clients that have been transferred to the client’s account maintained by the selling broker. 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.

"All of the SDC’s work is driven by our ultimate goal of providing delivery-versus-payment (DVP)", remarked Mr. Samir Jaradat, Chief Executive Manager of the SDC. DVP is a globally recognized mechanism that ensures good delivery of securities against final and irrevocable payment of funds. "DVP is just months away now, and we look forward to offering Jordanian and foreign investors the most secure, transparent trading environment in the region and giving local and international investors even more reason to trade on the ASE," said Mr. Jaradat.

The SDC’s transformation from chalkboards and paper stock certificates to state-of-the-art technological systems is a remarkable one and this CD highlights the changes in a fun and interesting presentation.

Financial and technical support has been provided to the SDC during the past three years from the USAID-funded AMIR Program to assist in the establishment of the SDC, the procurement and installation of technology systems and the development of this CD and marketing materials.