Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Curb insider trading, market manipulation, DPM Paudel tells SEBON officials

Kathmandu, June 8

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Paudel has sought urgent and qualitative reforms in Nepal’s capital market.

Addressing the 33rd anniversary programme of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) in Lalitpur on Sunday, he said, "Do not fall into the trap of middlemen. Work independently, resist pressure, and reinforce SEBON's regulatory authority with integrity.”

According to him, the capital market regulator should work to curb insider trading and market manipulation and the market environment should be transparent and beyond reproach.

“Insider trading, undue influence, and opaque practices must be eradicated to win investor confidence,” he said while stressing the need to embrace new financial instruments and technologies, echoing international trends.

DPM Paudel also direct SEBON officials to act decisively, strengthen SEBON’s role as a regulator and punish wrongdoers while rewarding merit.

Speaking on the occasion, Revenue Secretary Dr. Ram Prasad Ghimire indicated that legal reforms are underway but fell short of addressing growing frustration over legislative delays. Board's Acting Chair Narendra Kumar Rana, also representing the Ministry of Finance, highlighted the urgent need to appoint a full-time chair and modernise regulatory frameworks.

Meanwhile, union leaders within SEBON voiced sharp discontent.

Ajaya Dhungana, President of SEBON’s Employees’ Union, likened the current state of the regulator to the metaphor of a 'dead horse', a body being kept alive in name only, while critical reforms are ignored.

He criticised the lack of autonomy, absence from international forums, and persistent regulatory ambiguity. “The Board is being reduced to an implementing unit for directives from elsewhere,” he said, calling for a Capital Market Reform 1.0 agenda with updated laws, empowered structures, and genuine independence.

Employees’ grievances also included the Finance Ministry’s two-year delay in approving SEBON’s employee service regulations and a lack of professional development. “We are not demanding privileges, we are demanding respect and functionality,” said Dhungana.

Likewise, President of Independent Employees' Union of SEBON, Narayan Paudel Nepal expressed commitment to cooperating with senior management, but stressed that trust, transparency, equal treatment and fairness are key for meaningful collaboration.

“We are ready to work shoulder-to-shoulder, but only if there is a culture of listening and understanding,” they said. Expressing concern over recent reports involving the board chairperson, the union urged clarity to dispel fear and reaffirmed the need to uphold justice beyond paperwork.

SEBON Chairman Santosh Narayan Shrestha expressed commitment to implementing reforms in the sector. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 9 June 2025. 

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