KATHMANDU, Aug 14: The Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) has approved a revision on listing of securities fees that Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse) can charge on companies.
The approval of the fees, including annual fee, from Sebon paves the way for public companies, whose proposal was pending due to the lack of listing bylaws, to list their securities for trading in the secondary market.
Though the Sebon had told the Nepse to enforce the Securities Listing and Trading Bylaws by mid-July, Nepse had dragged its feet amid concern over the listing and annual fee and instead urged the capital market regulator to again revise listing and annual fees for listed companies.
The differences between Sebon and Nepse over the bylaws governing the listing of securities affected listing of nearly one million units of shares of seven public companies for at least three weeks.
Nepse to carry out listing of new stocks within seven days
Stating that the new bylaws had significantly reduced the listing and annual fee, one of the major sources of income for Nepse, the stock exchange company had requested Sebon to increase the amount. While the Sebon was initially reluctant to increase the listing and annual fee, it later agreed to raise such fees. However, the listing and annual fee is still low compared to the fees that Nepse used to charge on public companies earlier.
According to the approved rate, companies having paid-up capital of up to Rs 500 million will have to pay 0.1 percent of the paid-up capital or Rs 50,000, whichever is higher, as listing fee to Nepse. Similarly, the annual fee for such companies will now be Rs 50,000.
For public companies having paid-up capital higher than Rs 500 million, the listing fee has been fixed at 0.05 percent of the paid-up capital or Rs 250,000, whichever is higher. Similarly, annual of Rs 100,000 has been fixed for some companies.
For debentures and mutual fund schemes, the listing fee has been fixed at Rs 60,000 for companies with issued amount of up to Rs 500 million, while such fee has been fixed at Rs 100,000 for companies with issued amount worth above Rs 500 million.
Earlier, Nepse used to collect listing fee from companies by classifying them into six slabs.
Nepse had opposed the move of Sebon to significantly reduce the listing fee for companies in the new bylaws. Following Nepse’s disappointment and request to increase the listing fee, Sebon increased the listing fee but not to the level proposed by Nepse.
Sebon officials say that they have lowered the listing fee to reduce the cost for public companies to list their securities on the stock market for trading. “It is our duty to protect the interest of investors and market as well as bring the fees and cost of trading and transactions, including the listing and annual fee, in line with international standards,” reads a statement issued by Sebon. “As the number of companies and size of capital market has increased recently, Sebon has been gradually lowering the charges and fees for investors and listed companies in the secondary market,” the statement added.
