ANNUAL REPORT JUNE 2010
FEDERATION OF EURO-ASIAN STOCK EXCHANGES
AMMAN STOCK EXCHANGE
The Amman Stock Exchange maintained
stable performance despite the effects of
the global financial crisis.
Jalil Tarif
Chief Executive Officer
The Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) has
managed to pass the year 2009 with a stable
performance despite the effects of the global
financial crisis. The crisis which continued to
affect many of the financial markets and
economies worldwide affected mainly the trading
value in the ASE, however the foreign investors’
ownership in the ASE market capitalization kept
its high level which reflects the investors’
confidence in the Jordanian capital market.
The Amman Stock Exchange, launched the new
version of the electronic trading system NSC
V900 in March 2009, the new version entailed
introducing comprehensive changes to all the
components of the electronic infrastructure of the
Stock Exchange as well as the other capital
market institutions. Under the new version, new
phases as well as new features were added to
the trading phases and features, which are
meant to increase the efficiency of the trading.
This project is considered a major leap for the
concerned institutions and it crowns two-years of
persistent efforts started by the Jordan Securities
Commission (JSC), the ASE and the Securities
Depository Center SDC.
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
The Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) was
established in March 1999 as a non-profit,
private institution with administrative and
financial autonomy. It is authorized to function
as an exchange for the trading of securities.
The Exchange is governed by a seven-member
board of directors. A Chief Executive Officer
oversees day-to-day responsibilities and reports
to the board. The ASE membership is
comprised of Jordan’s 70 brokerage firms.
The history of securities trading in Jordan traces
its origins back to the 1930s. In 1976, the
Amman Financial Market was established to
create a regulated trading market. More
recently, as part of Jordan’s move to upgrade its
capital market, a Securities Law was enacted in
1997 separating the supervisory and legislative
roles from those of exchange operations. As a
result, the Jordan Securities Commission (JSC)
was created in the year 1997, the ASE and the
Securities Depository Center (SDC) were
established in 1999. The JSC supervises the
issuance of and trading in securities and
monitors and regulates the market. The SDC
oversees clearing and settlement and maintains
ownership records.
To provide a transparent and efficient market,
the ASE implemented internationally recognized
directives regarding market divisions and listing
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The ASE has launched a new version of the
website. The new website is enhanced with a
fresh, new design, architecture, navigation and
branding. The new design is dynamic and will
increase interaction with the user, which will help
to create a smooth experience.
Within the framework of the ASE's objectives of
developing trading techniques, Amman Stock
Exchange has finished the preparations
necessary to launch the Internet Trading service,
which will give the opportunity for a larger
number of investors and interested people to be
engaged in securities trading In this regard, the
ASE has entered into effect the Internet Trading
Directives which will regulate the securities
trading on the Internet.
The ASE is working on with the new project to
complete the Jordan National Financial Center of
which His Majesty King Abdullah II laid the
foundation stone. This center will contain the
ASE, the Securities Depository Center, brokers’
offices, banks’ offices, Investor’s Gallery, in
addition to a specialized institute for teaching
investment and finance related subjects.
criteria. It also adopted procedures for
improving regulatory effectiveness.
The ASE is charged with:
• Providing companies with means of raising
capital by listing on the ASE,
• Encouraging an active market in listed
securities based on the effective determination
of prices and fair and transparent trading,
• Providing modern and effective facilities and
equipment for trading, recording the trades and
dissemination of prices,
• Monitoring and regulating trading, in
coordination with the JSC as necessary, to
ensure compliance with the law, a fair market
and investor protection,
• Setting out and enforcing a professional code
of ethics among its member directors and staff,
• Ensuring the provision of timely and accurate
information of issuers to the market and
disseminating market information to the public.
On March 26th 2000, the ASE launched an
automated order-driven Electronic Trading
System. The system is in compliance with
international standards and takes into account
the G-30 recommendations. This system also
offers brokers immediate access to stock prices
and orders and enables members to trade
remotely.
On May 2006, The ASE has activated a new
version of the electronic trading system (NSC
On the level of regional and international
cooperation, the ASE has signed MoUs with a
number of parties; mainly the Egyptian,
Romanian and Greece stock exchanges, in
addition to the Financial Services Volunteers
Corps (FSVC), which will present the capital
market institutions with services in fields of
investment and securities industry.
As for the performance, the ASE Free Float
Weighted Price Index at the end of the year 2009
stood at 2534 points compared with 2758 at the
end of 2008 with a decrease of 8%. The trading
value during 2009 reached US$ 13.6 billion with
a decrease of 52% compared to the year 2008.
The number of transactions decreased by 22%
reaching 3.0 million, where the number of shares
traded increased by 11% compared with 2008
reaching 6.0 billion shares. The ASE market
capitalization reached US$31.8 billion by the end
of 2009 with a decrease of 11% over the end of
2008 representing 150% of the GDP.
V2+), which comes as part of the efforts to
meet the increasing needs of the Jordanian
capital market and in order to raise the capacity
of the current electronic trading system to
accommodate the increase in the daily trading
volume.
On March 22th 2009, The ASE launched the
new version of the electronic trading system
NSC V900, this project is considered a quantum
leap for the concerned institutions as the
electronic trading system have now become
linked with the SDC systems and the JSC new
monitoring systems. The new version will help
develop the trading process at the ASE and
enhance the capacity of the electronic trading
system.
FUTURE OUTLOOK
The Amman Stock Exchange will embark on a
number of key projects that will ensure
maintaining the lead that the ASE has amongst
Arab and regional stock exchanges. These
projects can be summarized as follows:
• Continue the construction works of the Jordan
National Financial Center.
• Continue upgrading of the technical
infrastructure.
• Introduce Internet trading.
• Launching new financial instruments.