The board of the Nepal Securities Board is set to approve pending initial public offerings (IPOs) starting next Saturday, following a decision made by the operational committee.
Representative confirmed that the decision to approve the primary issuance would be made during the upcoming board meeting scheduled for Saturday. Preparations for this decision had been underway for some time, with meetings convened for the purpose. However, due to a lack of quorum, decisions couldn’t be finalized. The presence of a representative from the Ministry of Law was particularly awaited. Unfortunately, their absence led to the meeting’s adjournment. Now, with the Ministry’s representation expected, the board is poised to proceed with granting approval for primary issuance.
Former chairman Ramesh Hamal completed his tenure and retired on Poush 20. Since then, approvals for primary issuance have been put on hold. Criticism has been mounting against the board for this delay, with concerns raised over the obstruction of approvals for nearly three months. The board clarified that the primary issuance approval couldn’t be granted due to the vacancy in the chairman’s position. However, many applicants still awaiting consideration for the chairman role, the board cannot further delay the issuance approvals.
Reliance Spinning Mills, might get approval quickly because they already issued shares to Institutional Investors . Now they need approval to issue shares to the public. Once they get this approval, they can issue shares to everyone. The company has asked for approval, and according to the rules, they should get it within 15 days. But they haven’t gotten it yet.
With the absence of a chairman, the responsibility for issuing approvals was temporarily delegated to the executive director, Dr. Navaraj Adhikari, by the Ministry of Finance. However, lacking the full authority, Adhikari couldn’t grant approvals for primary issuances. Now, with preparations in place and the assurance of the Ministry’s representation, the board is ready to move forward with approving pending IPOs.