May 4: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has decided to grant letters of intent (LoI) to 13 additional companies for new broker licenses.

During a meeting held on Wednesday, the SEBON Board of Directors decided to grant LoIs to these companies, allowing them to operate as limited service brokers.

The new companies that have received letters of intent for licenses are Sunrise Securities Limited, JBNL Securities Limited, Share Pro Securities Private Limited, Stockcarts Securities Limited, Property Bizard Limited, Capital Hub Private Limited, Milkyway Share Broker Company Limited, Bluechip Securities Limited, Kalash Stock Market Private Limited, Money World Share Exchange Private Limited, Shuvakamana Securities Private Limited, and Miyo Securities Private Limited.

As the SEBON had approved to give letters of intent to 16 companies earlier, the latest approval for LoIs to 13 more companies brings a total number of companies granted LoIs for new broker licenses to 29.

According to Mukti Shrestha, spokesperson at the SEBON, the approved companies will receive full licenses after they have established the necessary infrastructure. The SEBON will inspect the infrastructure and provide the license if it meets the guidelines set by the board.

The SEBON has received a total of 46 applications for new broker licenses, including one from an existing broker company.

Additionally, the board has fixed the paid-up capital at NPR 20 million for limited broker securities, NPR 600 million for full-service broker securities, and NPR 1.50 billion for stock dealer securities.

Old broker companies have also been advised to increase their paid-up capital until Ashad of 2082 BS.