The Securities Depository Center (SDC).

The SDC is a non-for profit public utility entity by virtue of the Securities Law No.(23) of 1997.

The SDC is the only entity in Jordan that is legally empowered by the virtue of Securities Law No. (18) of 2017 to oversee the following responsibilities

• Registration of securities
• Deposit of securities
• Transfer of ownership and safekeeping of securities
• Clearance and settlement of securities transaction

The SDC is one of the major institutions in the Jordan Capital Market as it holds the ownership registers of all issued shares along with a central settlement process for the trading contracts executed in the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE). In addition, the SDC is the National Numbering Agency in Jordan authorized by the Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA) and the Jordan Securities Commission (JSC) for allocating ISIN and CFI for financial instruments issued in Jordan.

1. Enhance the confidence of investors in securities and enable them to follow-up their investments with ease.
2. Reduce risks related to settlement of trading transactions executed through the market.

The SDC's members are:

• Public Shareholding Companies.
• Brokers.
• Custodians.
• Any other entity determined by the Board of Commissioners of the JSC.

The SDC is managed by five members’ board of directors and a full time Chief Executive Officer. Two members of the Board of Directors are elected by the SDC’s General Assembly and three members are appointed by the JSC. The term of the Board of Directors shall be three years. No member shall be appointed or elected for more than two consecutive terms.

The SDC's headquarters is located in Amman, Jordan at the following address:
Capital Market Building ـــ Al-Mansour Bin Abi Amer Street
Al-Madina Al-Riyadiya District ـــ Al-Abdali Area
Amman ـــ The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Tel: +962 6 5672788
Fax: +962 6 5672590
P.O.Box. 212465
Amman 11121 Jordan
E-mail: info@sdc.com.jo

Time zone: (GMT+2) winter time, (GMT+3) summer time.

According to the by-laws and instructions in force, the instruments that are eligible for deposit at the SDC are shares, Islamic sukuk, corporate bonds, subscription rights, and investment units issued from closed investment funds.

The SDC does not provide safekeeping for physical certificates instead securities will be dematerialized and held in book-entry.

Yes, the SDC transfers funds in conjunction with securities transfers. The financial settlement is executed through the SDC by bank transfers from the brokers' accounts to the SDC settlement account at the Settlement Bank (Central Bank of Jordan). Consequently, the SDC transfers these amounts to the bank accounts of the brokers who should receive those funds in conjunction with securities transfers from the seller's account maintained by the selling broker to the buyer's account maintained by the buying broker.

No, the final securities ownership transfer occurs on the second day after the trading day (T+2). however, turn around trades are allowed provided execution through the same broker in the same cycle.

The SDC does not provide cash accounts, but brokers should open bank accounts in order to transfer the due amounts to the SDC settlement account at the Central Bank of Jordan.

Yes, the Securities Depository Center (SDC) and in cooperation with the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) completed the procedures of electronic link between SDC's systems and trading system at the ASE on Sunday, March 22, 2009 through implementing an electronic system called Central Control Module (CCM) that is feed with SDC's data in order to control trading and reduce risks related to trade's transactions that in turn positively reflected on clearing and settlement process at the SDC and reduce risks in the Jordan Capital Market.

The SDC conducts clearing between buying brokers and selling brokers and the market. Thus, the net rights and obligations of each of the trading parties arising from trading contracts executed in T+0 are calculated, but financial settlements are based on multilateral netting.

The SDC doesn't offer this facility currently.

Currently, the SDC doesn’t distribute cash dividends or General Meeting Notices or Annual Reports to shareholders since it is the responsibility of the public shareholding companies. However, the SDC could provide these services on behalf of the concerned party according to an agreement.

Based on the SDC’s belief in the importance of supporting and establishing the transparency and disclosure in the JCM and offering information for interested investors which considers solid base to help investors in making correct investment decision. Therefore, the SDC offers the following information periodically updated its website:

• Companies’ Boards of Directors name, ownership, and trades.
• Shareholders’ names who own significant percentage from the share capital of public shareholding companies.
• Financial ratios.
• Corporate actions.
• Requirements of the SDC’s services.
• All legally required information regarding SDC members.
• Statistical data.

Yes, the SDC is member in the following organizations:

• Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA)
• Africa & Middle East Depositories Association (AMEDA)
• Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges (FEAS)

Yes, Thomas Murray LTD rates central securities depositories based on evaluation of the key areas of the depository's business, internal operations and risks. The SDC rating is A+, which means low risk.

The SDC issued regulations and procedures to protect members from risks to assure the smooth functioning of the market:

• Settlement cap for market participants commensurate with posted collaterals
• Settlement bank.
• Buy-in & sell-out measures.
• Immediate suspension of trading for defaulting brokers.
• SDC/ASE Tight Coupled Environment.
• Operationally complaint with the recommendations of the Group of Thirty (G30) and best applied standards.
• Setting up Recovery Disaster and Business Continuity Sites.