While investors have long demanded the system to allow buying and selling within a single trading day—moving away from the current T+2 settlement cycle—experts warn that intra-day transactions carry distinct technical and financial risks that require a fully integrated digital ecosystem.
NEPSE and CDSC Upgrade Demands
The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) must overhaul its infrastructure to manage real-time share orders, adjust buy-sell positions instantly, and enforce automated risk-management limits based on an individual investor's capacity. Additionally, stricter circuit breakers, volatility controls, and market surveillance tools are required to detect abnormal orders, artificial demand-supply, and price manipulation.
Meanwhile, CDS and Clearing Limited (CDSC) faces the critical task of tracking real-time open positions, purchases, sales, and available shares, especially given the complexities involved if short-selling is introduced.
Brokerage, Banking, and DP Integration
Broker companies must upgrade their systems to calculate client margins, available funds, shares, and real-time profits or losses automatically, cutting off order entry once a risk limit is crossed. Because intra-day trading relies heavily on immediate liquidity, seamless integration with the banking system is mandatory. A secure electronic communication network between banks, payment systems, brokers, and NEPSE must be established to verify funds instantly.
Furthermore, Depository Participants (DPs) need precise tracking systems to ensure the same shares are not utilized duplicately across multiple transactions.
Regulatory and Tax Clarity
The Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) is tasked with drafting comprehensive guidelines defining eligible securities based on liquidity and volatility, setting minimum margin requirements, and formulating emergency protocols for technical failures. Regulators and tax authorities must also establish clear frameworks for calculating capital gains tax when multiple trades of the same security occur within a single day.
With all major market entities—including NEPSE, CDSC, brokers, banks, DPs, and regulators—needing integration into a unified real-time electronic network, stakeholders agree that careful structural preparation will be the key milestone in modernizing Nepal's capital market.
