Those permitted to operate brokerage services are Bhole Ganesh Securities, Capital Max Securities, Himalayan Brokerage Company, Sun Securities, Mio Securities, Share Pro Securities, and Property Wizard Limited.
The last time Sebon issued stock brokerage licenses was in 2011 when the regulator granted permission to 27 firms. Sebon Spokesperson Mukti Shrestha said that the board will gradually grant licenses to the firms who've received the LoIs. At present, there are 50 brokerage companies operating in Nepal including a stock dealer company. On 18 Sept 2022, Sebon issued a public notice inviting interested firms to apply for brokerage licenses. After the Supreme Court's interlocutory interim order in the first week of November, Sebon stopped the process of issuing new licenses to new stock exchanges, commodity exchanges, and stock brokerage firms. The issuance of licenses to new brokerage firms got pace after the Supreme Court in the second week of April canceled a writ petition. Subsequently, Sebon issued LoIs to 43 firms. While issuing the LoIs, Sebon had said that firms must prepare necessary infrastructures such as office and software within six months. The board has issued LoI to subsidiary companies of seven banks - Nabil Bank, the then Mega Bank, Citizens Bank, Kumari Bank, NMB Bank, Rastriya Banijya Bank, and Sanima Bank to conduct stock brokerage transactions. However, the companies are yet to receive licenses. While the issuance of stock brokerage licenses has moved ahead, the licensing process of the new stock exchange has been halted for now, following instructions from Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. The process has been stalled after Prime Minister Dahal directed officials not to proceed with the process of granting a license to the new stock exchange for the time being. This comes amid allegations from various quarters that the government was trying to grant the license for the new stock exchange to benefit certain individuals and business groups. Three companies have applied for the new stock exchange, namely the Himalayan Stock Exchange, National Stock Exchange, and Annapurna Stock Exchange. The top corporate groups of the country are in a race to get the license to operate a new stock exchange. The Sebon had formed an evaluation committee for the issuance of licenses for a new stock exchange and commodities exchanges led by Phanindra Gautam, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs. The committee had started evaluating the proposals of three companies when the Prime Minister directed to halt the process.
