December 21: Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) is preparing to write another letter to the government to proceed with the license process of the new stock exchange. The board wrote a letter to the Ministry of Finance on Sunday asking for its opinion on whether the license process can be continued. One of the board members of SEBON said that they decided to write a letter to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers after the Ministry of Finance replied to their letter seeking more clarity on the issue.

The board member said that SEBON decided to send a letter to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers through the Ministry of Finance.

A meeting of the Council of Ministers on May 9 had decided to stop the license process of the new stock exchange immediately. After receiving a letter from the Ministry of Finance to implement the decision of the Council of Ministers, the board stopped the license distribution process.

The Finance Committee of the House of Representatives had earlier instructed the government on June 12 to halt the process of license distribution by SEBON. After the directive, the committee asked for documents from the concerned authorities to study the issue. Upon completion of the study, the committee concluded that there was no need to withhold the license distribution process as the Supreme Court had already delivered its verdict on the issue. The Finance Committee has clarified that the directive to halt the license distribution process has already expired on November 10. After about five months of study, the Finance Committee already issued a new directive to the government to proceed ahead with the license distribution process.

The Finance Committee concluded that the government should not stop the matter which has been cleared by the Supreme Court. SEBON has already received no objection letter from the Finance Committee. It has been learnt that the Ministry of Finance has now asked SEBON to write a letter to the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Minister regarding the matter.

Although the Finance Committee has already given the green signal to SEBON to proceed with the licensing process, it is waiting response from the Council of Ministers.

SEBON Chairman Ramesh Kumar Hamal said that despite receiving the instructions from the Finance Committee, he wanted to be clear about whether or not it is justified to proceed with the issue that is yet to be decided by the Council of Ministers.

Chairman Hamal's 21-month tenure is ending on January 5. He wants the board's decades-long plan to launch the new stock exchange to be completed during his tenure. Hamal, who earned praise for doing good work for the securities market in a short tenure, has also been accused of burdening investors by allowing bad companies to issue IPOs at a premium rate.

The process for the distribution of license of the new stock exchange was started on September 18, 2022. After going through ups and downs, Hamal completed the process of distribution of new license. Three companies have applied for the new stock exchange namely Himalayan Stock Exchange, National Stock Exchange of Nepal and Annapurna Stock Exchange Limited. Among these, one company will get the license.