September 7: Over the counter (OTC) market is on a rise in recent years. In particular, the shares of companies whose listings have been canceled from the secondary market and which have not entered the listing process are traded in the OTC market.

NEPSE informed that billions of rupees worth of securities are traded annually in the OTC market based on the agreed price of the buyer and the seller without the help of the securities brokers. NEPSE has been operating the OTC market as well in its own office through a separate counter.

Looking at the data of the last five fiscal years provided by NEPSE, it appears that the highest numbers of securities transactions were made in the fiscal year (FY) 2077/78 with trading of approximately 12.6 million shares worth around Rs 2.93 billion. Before that, in the year 2075/76, around 16 million shares worth Rs 2.16 billion were traded.

Looking at the data of five years, in the years 2076/77 and 2078/79, the securities traded in the OTC market were worth less than Rs 2 billion. NEPSE informed that approximately 7.2 million shares worth around Rs 1.89 billion were traded in the year 2076/77 and around 11.7 million shares worth around Rs 1.53 billion in the year 2078/79.

In the last fiscal year (FY 2079/80), around 2.1 million shares worth Rs 2.85 billion were traded. In terms of share, it seems that the last year saw the highest turnover in five years.

Apart from the premium rates, there is an arrangement to buy shares of initial public offering (IPO) at a face value of Rs 100 per share in the primary market of securities. In the OTC market, there is no certainty in the price as the transaction is based on the agreed price of the buyer and the seller.

There is also a situation where companies whose shares are traded at a higher price in the OTC market have issued IPO at a lower price. Hathaway Investment Nepal sold shares to the general public at a face value of Rs 50 per share. The company, which was trading at Rs 86 per share in the OTC market, sold the IPO at less than that price. Looking at the OTC market trading on June 6, a total of 357,295 shares of Hathaway Investments were traded at Rs 86 per share.