The Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) has said that the licenses for a new stock exchange and commodities exchanges will be issued within a month. The board has received applications from three companies for a new stock exchange and four companies for two commodities exchanges. Sebon officials say they are preparing to issue in-principle approval within a month. According to them, the board will start evaluating the companies that have applied for licenses by forming evaluation committees. The Sebon board meeting this week will form two separate committees to assess the applications for stock exchange and commodities exchanges. The board will select the companies based on the recommendation of the committees.

"If we do not encounter technical issues, the whole process will be completed in a month," said Sebon Chairman Ramesh Kumar Hamal. According to him, the competing companies will be evaluated based on paid-up capital, business plans, qualification and experiences of their directors, and the technology proposed by them.

The companies getting initial permission from the Sebon will have to prepare their necessary infrastructures within six months. Then only, the board will give the final approval. The top corporate groups of the country are in a race to get the license to operate a new stock exchange. Three companies - Himalayan Stock Exchange, National Stock Exchange and Annapurna Stock Exchange - have applied for the license to start a new stock exchange. The major promoters of the Himalayan Stock are Shanker Group and Deepak Bhatta Group. Besides, former presidents of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) - Bhawani Rana, Pashupati Murarka, and Shekhar Golchha along with Rajendra Khetan, Saurav Jyoti, Vivek Dugar, Kumud Kumar Dugar and Amit Kumar More are also the promoters of the Himalayan Stock Exchange. The National Stock Exchange has been backed by non-resident Nepalis (NRNs) businessmen, Agni Group, Kedia Group and Reliance Group. The NRN businessmen Upendra Mahato, Jiba Lamichhane, Badri KC, and Kul Acharya are also shareholders of the company. Deepak Timilsina, Mahesh Kumar Shrestha, Rishi Aggarwal, Ankit Kedia and Ramji Regmi are the other promoters of the National Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, Annapurna Stock Exchange is led by Surendra Raj Wagle and has Ganesh Kumar Shrestha, Mukti Bodh Neupane, Anil Sapkota, Prakash Kumar Shrestha, Shekhar Subedi, Balram Upreti as directors. Making a second amendment to the Securities Market Operation Regulation, 2064 BS on the second week of September 2022, Sebon initiated the process to establish the second stock exchange in the country. On September 18, 2022, Sebon invited applications for a new stock exchange, commodity exchanges, and stock brokerage firms. However, the process stalled for five months after advocate Deepak Bikram Mishra went to the Supreme Court demanding to stop the licensing process. The licensing process was stalled after the apex court dismissed Mishra's writ petition on October 21, 2022. Following the court's verdict, the Sebon on April 13 again invited applications from interested parties for new stock exchange and commodities exchanges. According to Sebon, the new stock exchange should have a paid-up capital of Rs 3 billion, of which 70 percent will be institutional investments. Currently, the Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) is the only stock exchange in the country. The government has a majority stake in the Nepse. While there have been talks of bringing strategic investors into the Nepse, the process has not moved ahead.