Kathmandu. The recommendation committee for the appointment of chairman of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) formed by the Balen Shah government has shortlisted the names of four out of 43 candidates. The shortlisted candidates have already held discussions with the committee’s office-bearers at the Ministry of Finance.
The committee is likely to recommend the names of 3 candidates this week. One of the three candidates will be appointed as the chairman of Sebon by a cabinet meeting.
Those on the shortlist are Nawaraj Adhikari, former executive director and Binay Dev Acharya, and former executive directors of Nepal Rastra Bank, Mukunda Bahadur Chhetri and Gopal Prasad Bhatta.
Chhetri had served as the executive director of Nepal Rastra Bank from 2078 BS to 2080 BS. At that time, Ramesh Hamal was the chairman of Sebon. Chhetri was accused of helping Hamal to bring mischief to Sebon.
The sixth amendment to the Securities Registration and Issue Regulations, 2063 BS was made to make a profit for 2 years instead of 3 years to bring IPO at a premium. Deepak Bhatta and Sulav Agrawal’s Himalayan Reinsurance Company cheated the public by selling the IPO illegally at a premium against Section 45 (5) of the Insurance Act. The recent verdict of the Supreme Court’s bench of the Chief Justice has also clearly spoken about the illegality of this IPO.
Similarly, Hamal and Chhetri were persuaded to sell shares at a premium to loss-making companies including Sonapur Cement.
Chhetri was involved in supporting Hamal till the end and playing a role in giving license to Deepak Bhatt and Sulav Agrawal’s Himalayan Stock Exchange and sinking the government NEPSE. Sur Krishna Vaidya, a representative of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and the Ministry of Law, Chhetri were among those who insisted that the Himalayan Stock Exchange should be granted a license despite the fact that it was not there. Due to his wrong and controversial role, the Nepal Rastra Bank had recalled Chhetri from the post of director of Sebon and sent another director.
A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) had approved the regulation that a private company can also be a shareholder of the stock exchange and such a company can hold up to 15 percent shares of the stock exchange. The question is now being raised in the market as to how a person who took such a disastrous decision under the direction of Bhatt and Agrawal can become the chairman of SEBON.
Market experts argue that Chhetris who have been working all their life, who have exhausted the energy of their life, do not understand the sensitivity of the capital market, do not have new thinking and energy, can solve the current crisis of the capital market.
It is being said in the media and social media that Chhetri has been picked up by the Sanima group, that Minister for Information and Communications Sasmit Pokhrel and his father Ramesh Pokhrel have favored him, and that Bhuwan Dahal, a member of the selection committee, was previously the chief executive of Sanima Bank. As a result, there is a danger that the government will be defamed if Chhetri is appointed. The examples of Ramesh Hamal and Santosh Narayan Shrestha, who were appointed by interest groups in the past, are enough.
There is a possibility that the government like Hamal and Shrestha could be accused of appointing a person who is surrounded by controversy. If a person who arrives in Sebon in a very challenging situation does not work with the employees and the general investor in confidence, then a catastrophic situation can happen.
On the other hand, if the vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission, Gunakar Bhatta, resigns abruptly and appoints his brother Gopal Bhatta as the chairman of SEBON, it will prove that he was appointed in the past.
Market experts say that it is very important to work in a way that reassures the capital market by avoiding the allegations of opacity and collusion while secretly recommending 3 candidates from 4 without making their list public.
