KATHMANDU, JULY 19

The policies and programmes for the securities and commodities exchange market for fiscal 2020-21 have been made public by Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) today.

In a webinar hosted today, Bhisma Raj Dhungana, chairperson of the regulatory body, addressed all the concerned parties and unveiled the policies and programmes.

As per the policies and programmes, SEBON will broadly focus on four core areas in the next fiscal year that include secondary market development, regulatory structuring, institutional regulation and research and investor literacy.

The programmes with a focus on market development will work to bring efficiency in the securities and commodity exchange market. Dhungana talked about introducing bonds to be traded in the market to increase the products available. He mentioned that the necessary procedures for the purpose were already put forward.

Similarly, Dhungana mentioned about giving the proposed stock dealer the permission to improve market movement and liquidity. “SEBON will also work to create a centralised KYC management system with the coordination of CDS Clearing Ltd,” he added.

Moreover, SEBON is also looking forward to creating an ‘SME platform’ for the trading of securities of small businesses and industries.

Similarly, the programmes with a focus on regulatory structuring include creating well-defined and scrutinised policies for the trading of bonds. Also, better regulations will be implemented to further keep insider trading in check.

SEBON is also making the necessary preparations to facilitate mergers and acquisitions of companies trading at Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) and also to encourage foreign investment and investment by non-resident Nepalis in Nepse, as per Dhungana.

Meanwhile, the institutional regulation section of the policies and programmes includes the possibility of SEBON coordinating with international agencies to improve the trading system, among others.

Moreover, in the research and investor training section, Dhungana said that SEBON is looking forward to studying the feasibility of short selling in the Nepali stock market and establishing an index fund for passive investors. He mentioned SEBON has also acknowledged the fact that the algorithm to determine Nepse index should be made contemporary and up-to-date.

Furthermore, Dhungana said that SEBON has been conducting online investor awareness programmes and will conduct such programmes in the future too.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on July 20, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.