KATHMANDU: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) is preparing to provide a license for the operation of a commodity exchange in the country within the current fiscal year.
The board has planned to reopen the application process and grant the license within this year. In the last fiscal year too, SEBON had called for applications but had rejected all of them.
At the time only six companies including Nepal Derivatives Exchange, Nepal Mercantile Exchange, Commodity Future Exchange, Multi Derivatives Exchange, Riesel Commodity and Derivatives Exchange and National Commodity Derivatives Exchange had applied to operate a commodity exchange.
The board has stated that it will grant the license for operation of commodity exchange to only two applicants. It is currently holding discussions so that even the previous applicants can again apply when the board opens the process.
As per SEBON’s Chairman, Bhisma Raj Dhungana, the board expects to complete the process of starting a commodity exchange by this year. He said that it will issue the license based on the market needs and after thoroughly evaluating the applicants.
The board has already called for applications for operation of a commodity exchange twice. In the first call, five companies, namely, Commodity Futures Exchange Limited, Nepal Commodity, Nepal Mercantile, Rizal Commodity and Multi Derivatives Exchange had filed their application.
However, at that time, the board decided not to distribute the license and again made a call for applications for the second time in the last fiscal year. This will be the third time that SEBON will be seeking applications for the purpose.