As Jordan’s economic strategy was to restructure the Capital Market and reorganize it, The Securities Law No (23) for the year 1997 was issued where the monitory and legislative role at the capital market were divided and three independent institutions were established according to that law, which are the Securities Depository Center (SDC), The Jordan Securities Commission (JSC) And The Amman Stock Exchange (ASE). Where those three institutions work on developing the capital market in Jordan and protect investors.

The SDC was established on May, 10 1999 as a non-profit public utility entity, and a legal personality with administrative and financial autonomy. The SDC is subject to the JSC’s monitoring and supervision.

The Securities Law No (76) for the year 2002 specified SDC’s functions as follows:

1.      Register issued securities.

2.      Safe-keep, and deposit securities.

3.      Transfer ownership of securities.

4.      Clear and settle securities.

5.      Perform ownership restrictions onto deposited securities.

6.      register corporate actions performed by issuers on the SDC database, including:

6.1.  Increase or decrease in capital.

6.2.  Stock split (divide nominal value of securities).

6.3.  Merger.

The SDC attempt to attract local and foreign investors by providing a safe investment environment and contributing to the increase of liquidity at the market and minimizing investment costs to encourage investing in Jordan. The SDC uses high technology to raise the efficiency of its clearing system; the SDC’s goals are particularly the following:

1.      Enhance the confidence of investors in securities and enable them to follow-up their investments in securities with ease by establishing a central registry to safe-keep the ownership of securities.

2.      Reduce risks related to settlement of trading transactions executed through the Market by implementing by-laws, instructions and procedures that are fair, fast and safe.

In order for the SDC to perform the tasks entrusted to it by law it had to go through many stages and each stage had certain requirements and procedures which were establishing a data base for securities owners, subjecting shareholder registers to audits and checks to authenticate shareholder data. The account level method was applied, then all shareholder registers were transferred to the SDC, authenticated securities were then deposited where SDC records are deemed legal proof of ownership of deposited securities. After that clearing and settlement on the basis of delivery versus payment DvP where sold securities will not be delivered unless payment is received as of 1/1/2005.

The SDC developed its own electronic bilingual system by local expertise and it was named the

“Securities Central Operation Registry Processing & Information Online (SCORPIO) ®” System.

SCORPIO enabled the SDC to perform its tasks. It is considered a complete solution for the registration, deposit, safe-keeping and transfer of securities ownership. SCORPIO consists of a number of systems and modules for registration, depository, clearing and settlement and also provides mechanism for risk management and surveillance of clearing and settlement. Its modules include brokers, issuers, custodian, pledge and surveillance systems, which taken together enable the SDC to provide investors with a wide range of services. Services provided to investors enable them to obtain several reports illustrating their investments and their distribution among different accounts with members; it also provides securities pledge and freezing which enables investors to freeze their securities at the central registry.

Investors –securities owners- should in turn authenticate their information at public shareholding companies where they own securities, to facilitate the SDC’s efforts to provide its services to investors, by submitting their full names, SDC number and a copy of their identification document and ask the company to continue the deposit procedures at the SDC.