SEBON’s stockbroker policy: A solid diagnosis with an incomplete prescription
Summary
SEBON’s new brokerage policy is a strong response to recent failures in Nepal’s stock market, including client-fund misuse, weak capital structures and a ransomware shutdown. But the plan still leaves key details unresolved, from capital thresholds and compensation funding to the legal framework for new trading products.
Key Points
- The Securities Brokerage Business Strengthening Policy, 2026 directly responds to recent scandals involving broker solvency, client asset misuse and a ransomware attack on trading terminals.
- The policy introduces a four-class broker structure and shifts toward risk-based capital, but it leaves crucial figures and transition timelines undecided.
- Client asset segregation, compensation funds and settlement safeguards are the policy’s strongest ideas, though enforcement and infrastructure remain weak points.
- New products such as margin lending, short selling and market making are being planned, but the market and technology systems may not yet be ready.
