SEBON Decides to Implement Recommendations Made by Capital Market Reform Task Force

The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has decided to begin implementing the recommendations recently submitted by the Capital Market Reform Task Force.

According to a senior SEBON official, the board meeting held on Sunday approved a plan to execute several short-term measures by mid-November and others by the end of November.

The official said the Nepal Rastra Bank has already lifted the maximum single-borrower limit of Rs 250 million on margin loans, in line with one of the recommendations made by the task force.

Other short-term measures include defining the capital gains tax on profits from non-business share sales as a final tax. The plan also allows investors to open two or more beneficiary accounts, requires related institutions to reconcile and pay taxes on bonus shares, introduces a margin trading system, and standardizes the use of identification (ID) numbers. The task force recommended completing these reforms within three months.

The report also categorizes recommendations based on their implementation timeline — within three months, within one year, and beyond one year.

For the medium term, the task force proposed that NEPSE restructure its capital through an initial public offering (IPO), launch a Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) platform, establish a framework for regulating pre-IPO activities, and operate a Settlement Guarantee Fund and auction market. These measures are to be implemented within a year.

In the long term, the task force advised drafting separate acts for the operation and regulation of the securities market, introducing a Trustee Act for the financial sector, enacting laws on securities-related offenses and penalties, and developing legal provisions for investment advisory and research analyst services.

The official added that implementing the action plan may face delays as employees of both SEBON and NEPSE are currently on strike.

Investors stage sit-in at SEBON

A group of share investors staged a sit-in at the SEBON office on Sunday evening, demanding immediate implementation of the task force’s recommendations.

Around 70 investors, including Tilak Koirala and Dipendra Agrawal, gathered at the SEBON premises while the board meeting was in progress. The protesters pressed the board to commit to fulfilling their nine-point demand, which largely reflects the same recommendations proposed by the task force.

Following the demonstration, SEBON Chairperson Santosh Narayan Shrestha assured the investors that the board would work to address their demands, Koirala said.