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FEDERATION OF EURO-ASIAN STOCK EXCHANGES ANNUAL REPORT APRIL 2011
AMMAN STOCK EXCHANGE
In 2010, the ASE has continued with its
efforts, aiming at developing the market,
and increasing its efficiency.
Jalil Tarif
Chief Executive Officer
The year 2010 was a year of uncertainty; it
witnessed many worries around the world
regarding the sustainability of the recovery of
the global economy, besides the worries about
some European countries sovereign debt and
fears of a currency war. These worries had
their effect on many of the stock exchanges
worldwide. However, the Amman Stock
Exchange (ASE) has witnessed a stable
performance, and ended the year with a slight
decline in the general index, while retaining the
confidence of local and foreign investors.
In 2010, the ASE has continued with its efforts,
aiming at developing the market, and
increasing its efficiency. One of the major
developments that the ASE has accomplished
in 2010 was the introduction of Internet
Trading. This service, which was launched in
July 2010, provides an opportunity for
investors to trade in securities regardless of
their geographic location. In addition, the
service is expected to attract more investors to
the market.
The ASE has adopted its new website in 2010,
both in its Arabic and English versions. The
new website reflects the recent developments
that the ASE witnessed on many levels. It was
developed with modern technology, contains a
great amount of information and was designed
to be user-friendly to enable investors and
researchers to find the information they need
more easily.
The ASE went on with the construction works
of its new project, the Jordan National
Financial Center. The center will accommodate
the ASE, the Securities Depository Center,
brokers, banks, Investors’ Gallery and a
financial training institute.
As for the performance of the ASE, the Free
Float Weighted Price Index went down during
2010 by 6.3% to close at 2374 points,
compared with its 2009 closing of 2534 points.
The trading value during 2010 reached US$9.4
billion with a decrease of 31% compared with
the year 2009. The number of transactions
also declined during 2010 by 37% reaching
1.9 million transactions while the number of
traded shares reached 7.0 million shares with
an increase of 16% compared with the year
2009.
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 68 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
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
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 22nd 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 has 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.
On July 14th 2010, the ASE Launched the
Internet Trading service. This service is seen as
a major opportunity for a large number of
investors to trade in securities regardless of their
geographic location. In addition, the service will
help increase the number of investors at the
ASE and enhance their aptitude to engage in
securities trading.
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:
• Continuing the construction works of the
Jordan National Financial Center.
• Continuing upgrading the technical
infrastructure.
• Launching new indexes.
• Launching new financial instruments.
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