Securities Board and investors agree not to launch protest in future

KATHMANDU, JUNE 27

The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) and different investor groups today have come to a mutual understanding that the investors will not launch any type of protest programmes in the future.

Earlier, as the board was unable to decide on when and how to open the secondary market which has been closed for the last few months due to the lockdown imposed by the government to curb the spread of the coronavirus, some investors had threatened to go on a hunger strike against SEBON and Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse).

The agreement which was signed by all the investor groups and SEBON mentions that investors will not resort to any protests and that the secondary market will be reopened as soon as possible.

Radha Pokharel, chairperson of Nepal Pujibazar Laganikarta Sangh, who also participated in the meeting, said that SEBON and investors have agreed to reopen the stock exchange most likely from Tuesday. “The board officials have stated that they will hold their board meeting on Sunday and try to take a decision to reopen the market from Tuesday,” she informed.

Niraj Giri, spokesperson for SEBON, said the board is preparing to reopen the market as soon as possible.

“After listening to the feedback and suggestions of the investors and other stakeholders we have thought about reopening the market from next week,” he mentioned.

During the meeting it was also decided that the investor associations will encourage their members to conduct business from home as much as possible due to the pandemic and will provide advice accordingly.

Giri further said that SEBON has taken the suggestions of investors and other stakeholders seriously to improve and expand the market by introducing relevant policies and rules and by improving infrastructure and technology.

The understanding states that the market will be fully reopened after some improvements are made in Nepse’s online trading system and the provision of obtaining usernames and passwords in the current situation, using ConnectIPS service of Nepal Clearing House or suitable electronic means for the time being, is ready.

Nepse has been closed since the lockdown began and opened only for a couple of days on May 12.

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A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 28, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.

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