In what I imagine can only be dubbed inevitable news, the Matrix Company for Financial Investments has been charged with attempting to defraud its investors after it recently announced voluntary liquidation, which inspired thousands of their clients to pretty much invade the Matrix offices around Jordan to reclaim their investments.
Some of the offices were even attacked, specifically the branch in Irbid where clients smashed windows and tried to attack the staff. According to local media, a “total of 12,500 clients had invested around JD60 million in Matrix’s 13 branches across the Kingdom”.
The Matrix, and other similar companies have pretty much gone unregulated for too long. These people shouldn’t even be allowed to operate. They tend to feed off the poor, taking their money with promises of high returns on investments and the likelihood of them seeing that money is slim. There are more and more “companies” operating on smaller levels, targeting a lot of young working Jordanians. I honestly don’t trust any of them.
But then again, people still play the lottery, so I don’t know.
Emad Hajjaj has a brilliant caricature that depicts the scene pretty accurately I think.
This is another prove that “free’ market ideology that “our” government is trying to push into our throats is bankrupt and obsolete economic system,It’s time to wake up and see the truth people..
urduni: you’re always mentioning that line: “the free market being forced on us”, which makes me ponder these two questions: what, in your mind, is the alternative? and when was the last time Jordan was anything less than a capitalist system?
Last month I was on a visit to Jordan and I heard a lot of people actually anticipating what is currently going on! Such companies exploit people’s needs, and you can never blame the common for being victims to such promises. The question is, why After so many incidents in the past, wasn’t the legal situation for such companies rectified!
As if we need another reason to lose confidence in the investment atmosphere in Jordan!
something is missing. the owners of the company didn’t flee the country, which means … how can they be intentional frauds?
and, what does it mean for a company to “liquidate voluntarily”? is this like announcing bankruptcy in the us?
How can you protected people from fraud YET allow the freedom of contract? it’s a tough one.
Under such volatile economical climate, people with limited income and probably far more limited savings; they’re expected to be on low-spending-gear and very wary of where they put their equity for investment to have it grow on steadily basis not exponentially!
Alas, our ever so oblivious folks want an exponential growth, they want their 5,000 JD worth of savings to give them an imaginary return in excess of 2 digit percent (9% +), so they’d go to the extent of selling their KIA bus, their wife’s gold and probably take a bank loan to go and invest around.
And given that our fragile economy have an intrinsic feature built-in to it, which is the Shawerma copy-paste effect, be it Shawerma shacks, pizza joints, mobile operators …etc once a business show signs of success, others will follow like herds, experienced or not, they’ll suddenly flourish (and eventually demise), consumers wouldn’t mind because they hardly differentiate between genuine offerings and a good copycat one that lacks substance.
Enter money investing companies, whether the gov’t lagged behind in regulating them or not, the individuals of our societies flocked-in, dazzled by the returns promised and not making a simple background such as a mere company-registration certificate or municipality license, rarely are the offers matched with any educated information sheet or portfolios!
Rather, a chain of networked-trust in which Abu-3lewa recommends il Masfoufa to Abu-Sa3eed his neighbor as he made (an exaggerated return) that exceeds 20% in less than a month!!! Along with a credibility factor based on the fact that the aforementioned company has 14 branches one of which is New York…. beat that; they must be legit!
So its usually the case, its a failure upon us, the individuals comprising our society, our consent is always exhibited by being herds that goes astray knowingly and premeditatedly, although i don’t open saving accounts in banks, but what happened to good old saving accounts at traditional banks (put aside the sharia decree here) what happened to reputable mutual funds and investment companies that offer realistic and credible investment opportunities in an educated manner (arguably). No, us Jordanians want quick unrealistic returns, to keep buying expensive mobile phones, pay its monthly bills, fill up our cars with petrol for unnecessary trips (rather than scoots), lighting up our homes with non-energy-saving bulbs, spend excessively on social occasions… Each and every individual is accountable, we’re our own protectors, and thus we’re to blame, especially those who sold REAL assets or took out loans to invest… utter stupidty that one can’t plead ignorance out of!!!
the abo ma7joob contribution to the issue is just brilliant.
sometimes i wonder if he makes the pieces you post for you, or if you make posts according to what he does! you should work together:)
its both the gov and the people responsibility, people should be more careful, and not to trust anyone with their money.
besides, its the gov role to set the rules, and educate its people the basics of ‘How-to-invest’, there are many websites in the USA, with enough resources to help its people learn how to have their own start ups, and investments.
Yes Nas,Jordan has had capitalistic system but with lots of protection and regulation,but ever since the “free” market enthusiasts such as the king and his beloved bassam AwadallAH took over the government,the game has changed to the advantage of the super rich who are rubbing the poor with no mercy,from massive privatisation project ie the whole sale of our pubic sector that your father and my father had paid for and to the massive deregulation project that those enthusiasts embarked upon to please uncle Sam and his tools such as the IMF and the World Bank..
urduni: at the risk of sounding repetitive, what, in your opinion, is the alternative…the necessary course of action?
First i am really glad you posted a couple of posts to get us out of the fight in Dr. Awadallah’s chess Game.
Second I can only take hats off for Abu ma7joub , man this guy has no limits , mashalla 3alaih.
Third,
I simply read the Law that the government came up with , it has a big title saying ” YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO WORK”
I agree with the government , it has take people’s economical sense out of proportion , we ordinary people look at investments that brings a 20-25% profit a year,( good investment) , but when the economical study go out of mind and distributes that same percentages in a month then there is something wrong going on , and the problem is that people here never learn , several cases took place where a matrix like company takes a flee after collecting millions , and guess what ? the economical crimes law gives the district attorney the right to negotiate and bargain with the criminal to bring back some of the money… if you don’t believe me i will send you the law.
This is what i think happened to matrix;
they had a low quality legal advise when they faced the wall of licensing , they declared voluntary liquidation and BOMB here they come with black out fits and sticks to take them where they belong.
I think trading in forex is a good thing , we get to look at a window of numbers where we can see how the world is moving , i tried it alone and it gave me so much experience and knowledge (like Basem’s comment ) which i am using till this day , but again , the law that was issued last month for these entities was devastating for them, so this was expected , some declared liquidation some just left the country after giving the people their money , and some went to jail because they pushed the wrong button.
Here is some free information ;
you can always trade in forex alone and for some relatives ,
you can always trade as a company if you were a foreign company not a Jordanian one ???
You can always Trade and never get caught.
you can trade as company that works in Amman Stocks exchange market and is registered for that matter.
and if u ask me how i know that , it is because the law says so . again anyone who needs to read the Law i am willing to send it to him/her
God bless Neo when he comes, i dont think he will need money
To make the argument short and concise ,i suggest all previous deals that were done behind closed rooms to be nullified or at least renegotiated ,bring in people participation by allowing honest and transparent election of the parliament and municipalities,more of regulations to save guards what have been left of all public sector ,after all we don’t want crooks to run our economy.is that too much to ask ya Nassem….
urduni: you are pointing out essential flaws in the political system that we all know about and yes, should be changed. but that wasn’t my question. my question was regarding what you feel is the alternative economic system. you have consistently written on this blog that you think capitalism has destroyed the country, so I am truly curious to know of your alternative. is that too much to ask?
Mxed economy , maybe sort o of like Sweden or Denmark,’ will that be enough for your curiosity?