“Kathmandu – The Nepal Securities Board has proposed to the Ministry of Finance to expedite the licensing process for a new stock exchange. The board sent a proposal letter to the ministry to advance the licensing process on Sunday.

In October, the Special Committee for Economic Analysis had granted approval for the operation of an additional stock exchange.

With the approval from the committee, the board has moved forward with the process of establishing a new stock exchange. According to Mukti Nath Shrestha, the spokesperson for the board, since the proposal has received a positive response from the committee, it will now be sent to the Cabinet for further approval.

Upon approval from the Cabinet, the path to open the new stock exchange will be cleared.

It has been a decade since the discussion on a new stock exchange started in Nepal. In 2079 B.S., the board had previously advanced the process of establishing a new stock exchange. After the board called for license applications, a case was filed in the Supreme Court. When the license application process for a new stock exchange and commodity exchange was opened, the court, through an interim order on Kartik 4, directed not to proceed with the process immediately.

With the full decision on Chait 26, Supreme Court justices Anil Kumar Sinha and Susma Lata Mathema rejected the said writ. With the Supreme Court allowing the opening of the stock exchange, the process had already moved forward.

The board has received applications for the operation of Himalayan Stock Exchange, National Stock Exchange, and Annapurna Stock Exchange for the operation of the new stock exchange.

However, in May, allegations of procedural corruption surfaced in the process of bringing the stock exchange into operation. Continuous questions were raised in Parliament regarding the alleged institutional corruption in the operation of the new stock exchange. Members of Parliament Rajendra Bajgai of the Nepali Congress and Dr. Swarnim Wagle alleged a corruption of Rs. 10 billion in the name of granting a license to the new stock exchange. Similarly, National Assembly members Sovita Gautam and Amresh Kumar Singhlagayat also opposed the board’s decision.

Following this, in April, Members of Parliament questioned the procedural corruption in the operation of the new stock exchange. Members of Parliament Rajendra Bajgai of the Nepali Congress and Dr. Swarnim Wagle alleged a corruption of Rs. 10 billion in the name of granting a license to the new stock exchange. Similarly, National Assembly members Sovita Gautam and Amresh Kumar Singh also opposed the board’s decision.”