KATHMANDU, Nov 9: The employees of the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON), who have been on protests for over a month, have called off their agitation programs after the government formed a panel to study curtailing their facilities.
According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the SEBON staff agreed to return to work on condition from Sunday following a talk with Joint Secretary of the MoF, Uttar Kumar Khatri. A four-member committee led by the SEBON board member Binod Kumar Bhattarai includes another board member, Anand Raj Sharma Wagle and two staff members of SEBON. The panel has been given a deadline of three days to submit its study report, while SEBON’s staff have warned to resume protests if their demands are not properly addressed by the government.
Finance ministry forms a panel to study on the rationale of ban...
The SEBON employees had been on strike since September 23. A prolonged protest by employees of the regulator has stalled public issuance plans worth Rs 80 billion, affecting nearly 100 companies awaiting regulatory approval.
SEBON employees had been on strike after the government decided to curtail the perks and benefits they had long received from the institution. The agitation has brought most of SEBON’s activities to a halt, disrupting the approval process for initial public offerings (IPOs), rights shares, debentures and mutual funds.
The protest began after the Ministry of Finance (MoF), through a letter dated September 2, instructed SEBON employees to repay loans and benefits taken from staff welfare funds along with interest. The MoF claimed that the establishment of SEBON’s welfare and protection funds violated the Government of Nepal (Allocation of Business) Rules, 2017, as well as SEBON’s own staff service regulations. It directed the recovery of all disbursements made under what it described as “illegal procedures” and required prior ministry approval for any future financial commitments.
In response, SEBON employees launched an agitation, demanding the regulator’s autonomy and calling for the government to revoke its decision. The employees have also demanded the resignation of SEBON Chairman Santosh Narayan Shrestha and have barred him from entering the office premises.
