Top officials of NEPSE suspected to run broker agency, board seeks trading details since 2007

Kathmandu January 18- Securities Board of Nepal has initiated the investigation process amid the information and complaints regarding top officials and employees of NEPSE running broker agencies in the names of their relatives and near ones and secretly influencing the market to fulfill their vested interest.

On January 17, SEBON has asked NEPSE to provide details of trading and KYC details of big investors of the market. According to sources, SEBON has asked to provide trading details of all investment companies since 2007 to carry out first phase investigation to verify whether top officials of NEPSE are involved in various investment companies as per the information received.

It is illegitimate worldwide for an official of regulatory body to operate broker agencies in the name of themselves or relatives or other allied people, to invest in shares and other acts that may affect share market directly or indirectly. Securities related Acts of Nepal has also barred such actions from officials within the regulatory body. Besides these preventions, rumors of affiliations of various top officials with different investment companies flow in the market. But SEBON ignored such issues for a long time in the past. But since the appointment of Dr. Rewat Bahadur Karki as a Chairperson of SEBON, issues of transparency and intensified monitoring of market have been raising in the market.

There is internal dispute in NEPSE regarding trading suspension due to wrongdoing of some broker agents. According to employees of CDS, NEPSE pressurizes to settle broker agencies that are under suspension process. Due to which SEBON suspected of involvement of NEPSE officials in broker agencies and started the investigation