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INTRODUCTION  December 17, 2010 : Start of the revolution’s first spark by the immolation of the young Mohamed Bouazizi.  December 19, 2010 : Protests were triggered in the south-west.  Continuing protests throughout the country until the escape of fallen president in January 14,

Functioning of the Financial Market from 17/12/2010 to 14/01/2011  The Tunisian financial market continued operating normally without any disruption during the period from December 17, 2010 to January 14,  The stock index was fluctuating upward and downward during this period with important volumes of transactions. 3

Functioning of STICODEVAM from 17/12/2010 to 14/01/2011  After the attack on the Government website, a follow-up unit was introduced by the end of December 2010 including the management and the technical departments to ensure the continuity of STICODEVAM’s services during this period,  The following measures were taken: An attack test was carried out on the web server hosted at the access provider by a company specialized in auditing IS in order to ensure that the website is protected from any attack; In addition to backing up data on magnetic tapes, a critical data backup was performed on other magnetic supports deposited in both bank’s vault and backup site; A general backup of the users data. 4

Functioning of STICODEVAM during the critical days (1)  Settlement of trades and instructions under normal conditions without any restrictions.  Since 12/01/2011 and because of the curfew, the closing of the settlement day was at 3:00 pm instead of 5:00 pm;  On January 14, 2011 there was a high level absenteeism of the member’s staff, therefore, many DVP instructions to be settled on 17/01/2011 were not confirmed. Despite this, it was decided to open the first session of the settlement day of 17/01/

Functioning of STICODEVAM during the critical days (2)  On January 17, 2011 and despite 70% absenteeism in both STICODEVAM’s and members’ staff and the circumstances facing the country, instructions were confirmed and transmitted by members and the settlement occurred ;  Cash clearing at the central bank was achieved with 2 hours late. 6

 From 17/01/2011 to 31/01/2011 : suspension of stock exchange trading mutual fund operations.  17/02/2011 : establishment of a new account type "frozen securities", to lodge securities owned by the president family. 7 Decisions taken during the disturbances

 At trade resumption, the stock exchange applied some restrictions: 1. Only orders under allowed thresholds are accepted by the trading system. 2. Orders entered are one "day" validity. 3. OTC trades are not accepted. 8 Decisions taken during the disturbances

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Conclusion  During the disturbances period, it turned out that trades confirmations at T+2 is too long ;  Many foreign investors were worried and wanted to be sure that the settlement of transactions occures normally ;  The role of CSD is important in ensuring the activity’s continuity during political disturbances. 10

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