KATHMANDU: The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) has approved Himalayan Urja Bikas Company's (HUBC) right shares, the first such case in the past six months that the regulatory body has allowed a listed company to float primary shares. The approval process regarding listed companies for floating new shares had been stopped as the regulatory body could not make any vital decisions due to the long absence of a chairperson at SEBON.

HUBC is planning to issue the right shares in a ratio of 1:1 amounting to Rs919.9 million. The paid-up capital, post-issuance, will surge to Rs1.98 billion. Nabil Investment Banking has been appointed the issue manager. Presently, the company is developing two hydropower projects—12 MW Upallo Khimti and 7 MW Upper Khimti are being developed in the Ramechhap and Dolakha districts respectively.

The board has remained without any leadership helm to facilitate many critical decisions since the retirement of former SEBON Chairperson Ramesh Hamal in January. Accordingly, critical matters like approvals for primary share issuances got delayed. However, a committee has shortlisted five nominees out of 19 applicants, which includes Santosh Shrestha, Muktinath Shrestha, Navaraj Adhikari, Krishna Bahadur Karki, and Chiranjibi Chapagain, the efforts toward appointing a new Chairperson came to naught. The process became hampered when three candidates who were called for interviews failed to show up on the set date.

The political interference, with a view to licensing a new stock exchange platform that serves the vested interests of some parties, has been said to delay appointing a new chairperson at SEBON. This dialectics brought to the fore issues related to governance and regulatory stability within Nepal's financial sector, impinging on time-to-time decisions, formulation, and oversight of regulations.