New Stock Exchange in the Private Sector: Some observations

A stock exchange is a platform that allows stockbrokers and traders to buy or sell shares of listed companies, bonds, and other securities. Such stock exchange helps in moving money in the market. "Circulating money", is when you buy a company's securities you have to pay for it. This means you have made a transaction; it means money is changing from person to person. The more money flows, the more the country's economy grows. Therefore, it indirectly helps to advance the economy. It helps the government to raise revenue. Taxes are payable on the purchase or sale of securities. This again indirectly helps to grow the economy of the country. It facilitates the trading of securities.

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) of America is a whollyowned subsidiary of an American publicly traded company called the Intercontinental

Exchange. Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) owns exchanges for financial and commodity markets and operates about 23 regulated exchanges and markets. These include the ICE futures exchanges in the United States, Canada and Europe, the Leaf futures exchanges in Europe, the New York Stock Exchange equity options exchanges and OTC, energy, credit and equity markets.

The United States government does not own any stock exchange. We see that there is a free "open market system" for publicly traded stocks. When it comes to the Indian stock market, the first thing that comes to one's mind is NSE and BSE, the two majors of India.

Trading is not tied to any physical location and takes place electronically. These are the two largest stock exchanges that regulate the securities exchange market in India.

The most widely understood and accepted definition of a stock exchange is that it is a regulated and organized venue where investors can buy and/or sell stocks, bonds, and other securities.

Generally, there is a central location for keeping records. However, trading is not tied to any physical location and takes place electronically. These are the two largest stock exchanges that dominate the stock market investment in India. That said, there are clear differences between the two, which can affect an investor's decision to invest through BSE or NSE.

BSE is the oldest stock exchange not only in India but also in Asia. On the other hand, NSE is larger than BSE in terms of daily turnover and the number of trades in the index. BSE's index known as Sensex (Sensitive Index) shows the top 30 trading companies. Nifty (National Fifty) is an index of NSE, showing the 50 most traded companies.

BSE started as an association of individuals in 1875 and was recognized as a stock exchange in 1957. NSE was established in 1992 as a tax-paying company, but later, in 1993, it was recognized as a stock exchange.

BSE ranks 10th in the world while NSE ranks 11th in the last few years. More than 6000 companies are listed on BSE, while more than 1600 companies are listed on NSE.

Now the government is preparing to distribute the license of another stock exchange in

Nepal. Even before the provincial and state elections, the new stock exchange license is going to be distributed as 'Cash Cow', it has also been communicated on social networks and financial media.

While only two stock exchanges are working in India, which has an economy of 26 trillion 23 billion dollars, the question is raised as to why Nepal, which has an economy of 31 billion dollars, needs two. When there are demands that the shares of the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE), which is also owned by the government, should be recirculated by selling them to the private sector, why is the government going to open another stock exchange without any study? Although it is mentioned in the government's five-year economic and financial strategy to reorganize NEPSE, now another exchange is about to be opened so its existence is in crisis.

NEPSE, of which the government owns 58.88 per cent, has a paid-up capital of Rs 1 billion. The paid-up capital of the new stock exchange will be at least Rs 3 billion. According to the existing system, the paid-up capital is 5 crore rupees. Various policies and other infrastructures are needed for the operation of the newly coming stock exchange, but so far nothing seems to have been done.

In the Nepal Stock Exchange currently operating in Nepal, the government owns 58.66 per cent, Rashtra Bank 14.60 per cent, Employees' Provident Fund 10 per cent, three commercial banks 16.14 per cent and some brokers and merchant companies own 0.6 per cent. Central Depository System and Clearing Limited (CDSC) is also operational with the full investment of NEPSE. It has been doing both the work of documenting the electronic account of shares and clearing the traded shares. If a new stock exchange comes, a separate depository and clearing company is also required for clearing transactions and dematerialization of listed shares.

Currently, the government is getting more than one billion annual dividends from NEPSE. The private sector has requested the Securities Board to allow the operation of the new stock exchange.

Some opine that the currently operating stock exchange, even in the long period of its operation, is not able to arrange the infrastructure following the needs of the market and make the trading system hassle-free, easy, simple, and various types of securities transactions. Therefore, the development of the entire securities market is being adversely affected, so it should be privatized and empowered in addition to having wide participation and operating following international governance standards. The private sector has demanded permission to operate another stock exchange. In addition to this, in the long term, the limit of credit given to listed securities in the total credit of the banking sector, the limit of credit to the value of securities and the method of calculating the average value of securities for credit and the risk weight in such loans shall be closely studied to adopt a policy that is suitable and should never be changed.

Regulatory bodies should pay attention to the interests of the investors and the interests of the market, along with this, it is imperative that the regulatory bodies also improve their capacity. Some believe that the lack of international standard software in the stock is the main problem at present and local software will cause problems again and again.

The employees of the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) have disagreed with the government's preparation to open new stock exchange. The employee union has recently issued a statement and announced 8 points of disagreement. In that notification, there are 26 stock exchanges in India, which are now reduced to 2, the whole of Europe is now in a position where a group of 4 stock exchanges can handle and 3 stock exchanges in Pakistan are about to be merged into one, opening another stock exchange in a country with a small economy like Nepal.

The association claims that it is unscientific and impractical to allow even private companies to invest in it. Analyzing that there is no need for more stock exchanges in Nepal even based on the size of the economy, the association said that in the US, which has an economy of 20.89 trillion dollars. In the recent meeting of the Council of Ministers, in the securities regulations related to the capital market, the Securities Market Operation Regulations, 2074, Securities Traders (Securities Brokers and Securities Dealers) 2064 fourth and Securities Registration and Issuance Regulations 2073 have been amended.