Kathmandu, July 16: The Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) has come up with a new Policy and Program for Fiscal Year 2019/20 for expediting the growth of the securities and commodities exchange market.
The 72-point Policy and Program includes a commitment to license commodities exchange markets and bring them into operation, book building system for premium pricing of a public offering of companies and effective implementation of ‘one citizen one demat account’, among others.
Similarly, it talks about taking forward the process of allowing the establishment and operation of another stock exchange company as well as reforming the Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse).
The apex regulator of the securities market also plans to take initiatives to bring down the trading and settlement time from existing T+3 days (trading day plus three days and strengthen the secondary market of the country. Presently, it takes four days for the settlement of any trading of stocks.
Encouraging manufacturing companies with capital above Rs 1 billion to bring them in the capital market, revising the existing rule on the lock-in period for the promoter shareholders of the listed companies and facilitating the flow of concessional loans for the listed companies with the best grading are other major points of the Policy and Program.
It also talks about the automated trading system of the over-the-counter market, fee revision of credit rating companies and enforcement of the insider trading related regulation which is currently at the last stage of drafting.
Apart from this newly unveiled plan and program, Sebon is also adopting 27 regular programs for carrying out reform in the securities and commodity exchanges market for the upcoming fiscal year. The board has started to make public its policy and program for every fiscal year since FY2017/18 for the development of securities and commodities exchange market.
