May 1: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has decided to form an evaluation committee to make the license distribution process of the new stock exchange more reliable.

A meeting of the board of directors of SEBON held on Sunday morning decided to form the evaluation committee chaired by Phanindra Gautam, joint secretary of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. Gautam is a member of the board of directors of SEBON representing the ministry.

According to the information shared by SEBON, Ritesh Kumar Shakya and Mukunda Kumar Kshettri are the members of the evaluation committee. Shakya is a member of the Board of Directors of SEBON representing the Ministry of Finance and Kshettri is from Nepal Rastra Bank. SEBON’s Executive Director Muktinath Shrestha and Assistant Executive Director Ambika Giri have been appointed as members of the evaluation committee on behalf of the board.

The board had asked for applications from April 13 to April 23 to issue a license to a new stock exchange to the private sector. During the specified period, Himalayan Stock Exchange, National Stock Exchange of Nepal and Annapurna Stock Exchange submitted applications. The board will issue license to only one out of the three companies, which according to SEBON  officials is a challenging task.

SEBON Chairman Ramesh Kumar Hamal said that a license will be given to a company that completes the due processes as per the rules. Although the situation of choosing one company out of three is challenging, Hamal believes that it will be somewhat easier as the license distribution process will proceed based on the report of the evaluation committee.

According to Hamal, the evaluation committee will study the detailed business plans of the applications received for the license of the new stock exchange. After evaluating the detailed action plan submitted by the three companies, the evaluation committee will determine the order of merit of the applicants and submit it to the Board of Directors. Hamal has made it clear that license will be given to a company that gets the highest marks based on the order of merit.