Kathmandu, November 26

Share investors have sought immediate reforms to the fully automated share trading system introduced recently by the Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) — the country’s sole secondary bourse.

To put pressure on concerned authorities, share investors staged a protest at Nepse’s office premises today. They urged the Nepse management to immediately take necessary measures so as to streamline the online trading system.

The domestic share market switched to an online trading system on November 7. However, investors have become frustrated of late because of technical glitches that have been occurring on a daily basis in the online trading system.

Share investors associated with various investor associations like the Nepal Investors Forum, Share Investors Association of Nepal, Nepal Capital Market Investors Association and Nepal Capital Market Association, have demanded a strategic and result-oriented intervention for reforms in the country’s sole capital market.

Due to the persistent problem in its system, Nepse has also failed to update data and records. “We have been continuously facing problems while making transactions after Nepse started online trading. The government needs to intervene for a better outcome,” stated Ambika Prasad Poudel, chairman of Nepal Investors Forum.

“Nepse has compelled us to stage a protest for the security of our property as it has failed to properly manage the automated online trading system,” he said.

The investors today also urged the authorities at Nepse to clarify on why the online trading system had failed to kick off as expected when the initiative was launched. “We expect them to provide plausible reasons,” said Poudel.

According to Poudel, share investors will stage continuous protests at Nepse until it is able to address their concerns and the problem is resolved.

Investors have accused Nepse of failing to ease the problem related to the process of registering a client’s details even after having been informed numerous times. Moreover, they have also said that they are unable to view the immediate rates of a company’s share price, among others.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of Nepse Chandra Singh Saud, has admitted that the system has been encountering some technical difficulties and such issues will be addressed gradually.

The investors have also accused Nepse of launching the online trading system without itself being ready for the process. After the online trading system was launched, the trading volume has remained low, hitting the benchmark index, which has been on a freefall for the last several weeks and was at 1,159.52 points today.