Banking and finance counsel in Jordan for banks, financial institutions, and businesses: facilities and security, letters of credit and guarantees, regulation under the Central Bank of Jordan, and financial disputes before the courts.
Behind almost every financing in Jordan stands a regulator. A bank, a foreign-bank branch or a financial institution can only operate once the Central Bank of Jordan has licensed it, and two statutes set the terms of that licence: the Central Bank of Jordan Law No. 23 of 1971 and the Banking Law No. 28 of 2000. Between them they decide who may take deposits and lend, how much capital a bank carries, and how it is run and watched. We act for the banks and institutions on one side, and for the companies and investors who deal with them on the other.
Most of what we do here happens early, before anything goes wrong. The facility is negotiated, the security is registered, the bond is issued. Chasing money that has already gone unpaid is a different job, run through the courts and the Execution Court, and it lives on our separate Debt Recovery & Enforcement page.
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Scope of Work
What We Handle
The practice covers how banks and financial firms are regulated, and the deals they actually do.
Banking Regulation & Licensing
We help banks, foreign-bank branches and other financial institutions win a Central Bank of Jordan licence and keep it. The work runs under the Banking Law No. 28 of 2000 and the Central Bank of Jordan Law No. 23 of 1971: the licence application itself, the approvals a bank needs when its owners or board change, and the steady correspondence with its supervisor.
Lending & Facility Agreements
We draft and negotiate the loan documents, for the bank or for the borrower. It might be a single bilateral facility, a syndicated deal, a revolving line for working capital, or an Islamic-finance structure. We stay with it after signing too, through drawdown, covenants, what counts as a default, and any later amendment or refinancing.
Security & Collateral
A loan is only as strong as what sits behind it. We build and register the security, the pledges, mortgages, assignments and guarantees over property and movable assets, and we tell a lender where it will rank if the borrower fails. Security over movables is filed in the electronic collateral registry created by the Movable Property Security Rights Law No. 20 of 2018.
Trade Finance: Letters of Credit & Guarantees
Importers, exporters and contractors lean on letters of credit and bank guarantees, and so do the banks that issue them. We advise the issuing bank, the applicant or the beneficiary on documentary and standby credits, guarantees and collections: how the credit sits against the underlying contract, and what happens when documents are presented or a demand is made. Jordanian banks run their documentary credits under the ICC rules, UCP 600, and we work inside them.
Project & Structured Finance
When a project has to pay for itself, in infrastructure, energy, real estate or industry, we put the financing and the security together, settle who ranks where among the lenders, and split the risk between sponsors, banks and everyone else at the table. Asset-based and receivables financing fall here too.
Capital Markets & Securities
For a company raising money on the market, and for the investors and firms around it, we handle the offering and listing of shares, bonds and sukuk under the Securities Law No. 18 of 2017. That means the prospectus, the disclosure a listed company owes once it is public, and the dealings with the Jordan Securities Commission, the Amman Stock Exchange and the Securities Depository Center.
AML/CFT & Regulatory Compliance
Banks, exchange houses, payment companies and other regulated firms have to run an anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing programme under Law No. 20 of 2021. We write and test those programmes: customer due diligence, the suspicious-transaction reports that go to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Unit, record-keeping, sanctions screening, and getting ready for a supervisor’s examination.
Electronic Payments & Fintech
A payment company, an e-money issuer or a fintech startup needs the Central Bank of Jordan’s sign-off before it can move money electronically. We take them through the licence, the conduct and customer-protection rules that come with it, and the question every founder asks: how to fit a new product into the rules that already exist.
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Our Clients
Who We Help
Our clients sit on every side of a financing.
Licensed banks, conventional and Islamic, and branches of foreign banks
Other financial institutions: finance companies, leasing companies, exchange houses and microfinance lenders
Payment-service providers, e-money issuers and fintech companies
Companies and sponsors raising acquisition, project or working-capital finance
Issuers of shares, bonds and sukuk, and the underwriters and financial firms beside them
Suppliers, contractors and traders relying on letters of credit and guarantees
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In Practice
Common Scenarios
A few of the situations that bring people to us:
A bank opens a new branch or reshuffles its ownership and needs the Central Bank of Jordan’s approval under the Banking Law No. 28 of 2000.
A lender and a company are negotiating a syndicated term loan, with security taken over movable assets and registered in the collateral registry.
An importer’s letter of credit runs into trouble: the bank questions whether the documents match, and whether it has to pay.
A public company wants to raise money through a bond or sukuk, and needs the prospectus, disclosure and listing handled with the Jordan Securities Commission, the Amman Stock Exchange and the Securities Depository Center under the Securities Law No. 18 of 2017.
A fintech or payments business is applying to the Central Bank of Jordan to offer electronic payments and transfers, and its product has to be shaped to fit the licence.
A bank is tightening its AML programme, the customer checks and the suspicious-transaction reporting, before a supervisory examination under Law No. 20 of 2021.
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Our Method
Our Process
How a banking matter usually moves with us:
1. Scope
We start by working out who is in the deal, which regulators have a say, and what approvals it needs: the Central Bank, the Securities Commission, the AML rules, or some mix of the three.
2. Structure
Then we shape it. We pick the facility, the security, the instrument or the offering, choose the collateral and the terms, and make sure the structure can actually pass the rules in force.
3. Document
We draft and negotiate the agreements, the security, the prospectus or the filings, and handle the registrations and approvals that go with them.
4. Close & Comply
We get to closing, register the security and release the money or settle the trade, then set out what the client still has to report and do once the deal is live.
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Why Us
Why Choose Us
Full Regulatory Coverage
We work across the Central Bank, the Securities Commission and the AML regime, so a deal gets read against all of them at once, not one regulator at a time.
Transactional & Advisory
We do the deals, not just the opinions: a licence application, a facility, a security filing, a bond issue.
Lender & Borrower Sides
We act for banks and for the companies that borrow from them, so we know how each side reads the same clause.
Current Statutory Basis
Our advice tracks the statutes in force and the way Jordanian banks really operate, down to the ICC UCP 600 rules they apply to letters of credit.
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Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a banking and finance lawyer do in Jordan?
Two things, really: the rules banks live under, and the deals they and their clients sign. In Jordan that takes in licensing by the Central Bank of Jordan under the Banking Law No. 28 of 2000, the drafting of loans and security, letters of credit and bank guarantees, share and bond issues under the Securities Law No. 18 of 2017, and anti-money-laundering compliance under Law No. 20 of 2021.
What is a letter of credit, and how is it used in trade finance in Jordan?
It is a bank’s promise to pay a seller once the seller hands over documents that match the terms of the credit, and it is what makes a lot of import and export trade possible. The Jordanian Commercial Law No. 12 of 1966 deals with bank credit facilities in general but does not lay down a specific regime for documentary credits; in practice they run on the terms of the credit itself and on the ICC’s UCP 600 rules, with the Civil Law filling any gap. A dispute usually comes down to whether UCP 600 was incorporated, whether the documents really conform, and the fact that the credit stands on its own, apart from the underlying contract.
What is a bank guarantee, and how does it work in Jordan?
It is the bank’s own promise to pay the beneficiary if the other side does not perform, often used to back a tender, a performance obligation or a payment. The Jordanian Court of Cassation has treated that promise as independent of the underlying contract, so the beneficiary can call the guarantee on its own terms. We advise on how the guarantee is written, when a demand is valid, and where the bank, the applicant and the beneficiary each stand.
How are banks licensed and supervised in Jordan?
By the Central Bank of Jordan. It sets the criteria, licenses banks and foreign-bank branches, then keeps watch over their soundness, capital and governance under the Banking Law No. 28 of 2000 and the Central Bank of Jordan Law No. 23 of 1971. Protecting depositors is a large part of the point.
How are securities and capital markets regulated in Jordan?
The Jordan Securities Commission regulates them under the Securities Law No. 18 of 2017. It oversees how securities are issued and traded, what issuers have to disclose, and who may operate in the market. Trading happens on the Amman Stock Exchange, while registration, clearing and settlement run through the Securities Depository Center.
What anti money laundering obligations apply to financial institutions in Jordan?
Banks and other regulated firms owe a set of anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing duties under Law No. 20 of 2021. In short: know your customer, keep records, screen against sanctions, and report anything suspicious to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Unit, which is Jordan’s financial intelligence unit.
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Connected Practices
Related Practice Areas
Banking work runs close to a few of our other practices.
Court cases and arbitration, including contested banking, security and financial-institution disputes in Jordan.
Learn more →
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Legal Basis
The Banking and Finance Framework in Jordan
Banking and finance in Jordan sit on several layers of law. Banks, foreign-bank branches and financial institutions are licensed and supervised by the Central Bank of Jordan under the Central Bank of Jordan Law No. 23 of 1971 and the Banking Law No. 28 of 2000, both as amended, which fix what a bank needs to be authorised, how much capital it holds, and how it is governed and supervised, with the safety of depositors a stated aim. Lending and security run on the general civil and commercial law, and security over movable assets is registered in the electronic collateral registry created by the Movable Property Security Rights Law No. 20 of 2018. The Commercial Law No. 12 of 1966 covers bank credit facilities in general terms but stops short of a specific regime for documentary credits, so those run on the terms of the credit and on the ICC’s UCP 600, a set of ICC rules the banks adopt rather than a Jordanian statute, with the Civil Law filling any gap. The capital market answers to the Jordan Securities Commission under the Securities Law No. 18 of 2017, with the Amman Stock Exchange as the trading floor and the Securities Depository Center handling registration, clearing and settlement. On top of all this, financial institutions carry anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing duties under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Law No. 20 of 2021 and report suspicious transactions to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Unit, while electronic payments and money transfers are licensed by the Central Bank of Jordan. We work across these layers to put transactions and compliance programmes on the right side of the law as it stands. Source: Central Bank of Jordan.
Maintained by the Banking and Finance Department of Abdullah & Partners, admitted to the Jordanian Bar Association. Last reviewed: June 2026. Next scheduled review: December 2026.
Abdullah & Partners
Abdullah & Partners is a law firm in Jordan, based in Amman, providing legal services in accordance with the laws of Jordan, the Jordanian Bar Association Law, and international conventions in force.
Established in Amman · Member of the Jordanian Bar Association
