However, NEPSE denies of receiving such direction, which has started tug of war between the two regulatory bodies.
Santosh Narayan Shrestha, SEBON Chairman claimed that they are working towards structural reforms in the capital market and have given clear instructions to NEPSE to implement offline orders. As per Shrestha, the board is introducing various tools to make the market investment-friendly.
"We have already asked NEPSE to implement offline orders immediately. Huge number of Nepali workforces is abroad; it is difficult for them to trade due to time constraints. Also, it is inconvenient for employees to trade during office hours. Therefore, it is an obvious and timely requirement,” Shrestha told Merolagani. Shrestha is aiming to launch facilities like intraday trading and offline orders in the domestic stock market within this year. He said that these works will be carried out in coordination with NEPSE and this will also make margin lending more effective.
While the board continues to claim of giving instruction on offline orders, NEPSE officials have denied of receiving such instruction. They asserted that the board has not given order but asked for opinions and suggestions to make such arrangements.
In the opinion of NEPSE, the letter sent by board is for technical study and claims not sufficient to for implementation. They argue that without clear policy and procedures, they can not modify software and broker system.
What is 'offline order'?
Generally, trading can only be carried out during the fixed opening hours (11 am to 3 pm in the case of Nepal). However, 'offline orders' are a facility under which investors can place orders to buy or sell shares in the system even when the market is closed. This is also known as 'after market orders' (AMO) in the international market. When the market opens the next day, the system automatically takes those orders to the execution process based on priority.
