KATHMANDU: The recommendation committee formed for the appointment of the chairman of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has announced that a new process will be initiated following the cancellation of the previous appointment process. According to the law, the committee must recommend at least three candidates for the position. However, the committee canceled the process after only two candidates attended the interview.

A meeting of the committee on June 28 decided to cancel all the procedures that had been carried out since February 28.

"A new process will now be started for the appointment of the SEBON chairman," said a source from the recommendation committee, "But it has not been decided when this process will begin."

The four-month-long process for filling the vacant post of SEBON chairman, which started on January 5, has been canceled. It appears it will take some time to fill the post as the process will begin again with a call for applications.

The three-member recommendation committee, chaired by Dr Meen Bahadur Shrestha, vice chairman of the National Planning Commission, had collected 19 applications from February 28 to March 13. The committee shortlisted five eligible candidates and conducted interviews.

Out of the five shortlisted candidates, only two participated in the interview. As per the Securities Act and the committee's procedures, recommending only two candidates was not permissible. The first interview was conducted on June 16, with only Santosh Shrestha and Muktinath Shrestha appearing for the interview. The other candidates—Dr Navraj Adhikari, Krishna Bahadur Karki, and Chiranjeevi Chapagai—did not attend the interview. A second interview was scheduled for June 19, but the three absent candidates did not attend that session either.

Before canceling the appointment process, the committee sought legal advice from the Office of the Attorney General. Based on the Attorney General's opinion and the provisions of the Securities Act, the committee decided it was not possible to recommend only two candidates, leading to the cancellation of the process.

According to the law, at least three candidates must be recommended for the appointment of the chairman, prompting the recommendation committee to cancel the process after only two candidates participated in the interview.