Kathmandu, March 24

A group of share investors today staged a demonstration at the office of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON), obstructing daily functioning of the regulatory body of the secondary market.

The protesters who have organised themselves under a body named ‘Share Pressure Group’ have urged SEBON to fulfil their 32-point demand. The group, which recently announced of holding protests for what it calls the development and expansion of the share market, staged a sit-in at the SEBON office in Jawalakhel.

As the demonstrators locked the entrance of the office, the staffers could not report to their desks on time. They started to protest from early in the morning so the staffers couldn’t enter the office. One of the staffs was locked up inside.

Rewat Bahadur Karki, chairman of SEBON, said that some people with vested political interests entered the office premises and locked the main gate. “We had to call the security personnel who helped us unlock the door and staff were able to enter the office.”

The demonstrators have also sought the resignations of Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada, Nepal Rastra Bank Governor Chiranjibi Nepal, SEBON Chairperson Rewat Bahadur Karki, Chairman of Nepse Laxman Neupane and Chairman of Insurance Board Chiranjibi Chapagain.

They have claimed that Minister Khatiwada is against the growth of the capital market and the market cannot grow further until he is sacked.

Earlier, citing that the secondary market had not been serious in addressing their demands, the same investor group had resorted to a hunger strike on the premises of Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) against top governmental officials on December 16 last year.

However, their major demands related to the betterment of the securities market have already been fulfilled by the Finance Ministry.

Moreover, investors have said that they have taken this step to create a secure environment so as to protect the interest of the investors in the securities market who have reportedly lost billions of rupees in the last one year.