Now orders can be placed in Nepse 24 hours a day, circuit breakers are also 2.

There is good news for stock investors. Now they can give orders for buying and selling shares 24 hours a day. The Securities Board has approved the important amendments made in the trading regulations of Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE). With this, the regular waiting time for trading orders is over. NEPSE submitted the amendment proposal to the Securities Board to make the Securities Transaction Regulation 2075 up-to-date. The board approved the proposal with some modifications. In particular, significant changes have been made to the timings for circuit breaks and trading orders.

Earlier NEPSE proposed three circuit breaks, but the board has limited it to two. Further, the Board has extended this to full round-the-clock, while the provision was proposed that orders can be placed from 6 pm to 6 am excluding business hours. This arrangement will provide an opportunity to invest in the secondary market, especially to Nepali investors abroad. Under the new arrangement, investors can enter buy-sell orders at any time, even though NEPSE's regular trading closes at 3 pm. This facility is expected to encourage primary market investors to enter the secondary market as well.

Investors placing orders after regular trading hours can trade by increasing or decreasing the price within the specified limits based on the final price of the same day. Regular business of NEPSE starts at 11 am and lasts till 3 pm. Now, according to the revised regulations, online purchase or sale orders can be placed at any time apart from regular trading hours. According to NEPSE spokesperson Murahari Parajuli, the board of directors of NEPSE will decide on the implementation of the amendment approved by the Securities Board and this arrangement will be implemented by the next week.

For orders made during non-regular trading hours, the share price of the company may be set at 2 percent higher or lower than the final price. NEPSE has also prepared its transaction system for this. At present, pre-open trading is being conducted from 10:30 AM to 10:45 AM and regular trading from 11 AM to 3 PM. It is believed that this new arrangement will make it easier for non-resident Nepalis to trade shares. The High Level Economic Reform Commission also suggested to allow non-resident Nepalis to trade in the secondary market of securities. The commission recommends that by amending Sections 9 and 10 of the Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer Act, 2075, provision should be made to allow non-resident Nepali citizens to carry out business on the basis of their identity card without setting up a capital investment fund. In addition, the provision of withdrawing up to 50-50 percent of the amount brought in for the purchase of shares in the secondary market twice in a year is likely to attract the investment of non-resident Nepali.

A significant change has also been made in the circuit breaker arrangement. Current 3 circuit breakers are down to 2. According to the new rules approved by the board, the limits for two circuit breaks are fixed at 5 percent and 8 percent. If the NEPSE index falls or rises by 5 percent in the first 2 hours of trading, the first circuit breaker will be applied and trading will be stopped for 15 minutes. After that, if the market increases or decreases by 8 percent, it is arranged that the trading of that day will be closed. The board has changed the limit of 4, 6, 8 percent proposed by NEPSE earlier.

According to the recommendations of the task force formed for stock market reforms, the board has made the provisions related to circuit breakers more relaxed. This change is expected to make the securities market more dynamic and investment friendly.