TeliaSonera secretly transfers shares

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: Both the regulator and company registrar are unaware

of share transfers of Nepal Satellite Telecom, the operator of Hello Mobile.

In order to strengthen its market position, TeliaSonera indirectly acquired 51 per cent of the shares in the Cypriot holding company Airbell Services, which owns 50 per cent of the shares

in the Nepali mobile operator Nepal Satellite Telecom, according to the annual report of TeliaSonera.

But neither the telecom regulator — Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) — nor the company registrar’s office has any information of the share transfer. “We have not received any official information of the share transfer so far,” said spokesperson of NTA Kailash Prasad Neupane.

To transfer the stake of any company officially, it has to apply to the Office of the Company Registrar and get an approval, according to the Office of the Company Registrar. “If there is any tax liability, the tax administration will look into it but we too are in the dark regarding the share transfer of Nepal Satellite,” the company registrar’s office said, adding that it is unclear about whether or not there has been a gain in capital in the share transfer.

Capital gain tax is a tax on capital gains –– the profit realised on the sale of a non-inventory asset that was purchased at a lower price. The most common capital gains are realised from the sale of stocks, bonds, precious metals and property.

Nepal Satellite, at least, should have informed the regulator regarding the transfer of shares, according to the authority that suspected the service provider of trying to take advantage of the loopholes present in the laws to escape its liabilities.