SEBON’s 2083 White Paper: The Next Stage for Nepal’s Primary Market

On 21 Shrawan 2083 (6 August 2026), the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON) issued its Primary Capital Market Development White Paper, 2083. Its message is that after three decades of growth - nationwide participation, dematerialised securities, ASBA and MeroShare, over NPR 765 billionmobilised and a single issue drawing 2.9 million+ applications - Nepal’s next challenge is not access, but quality, depth and credibility.

The relevant questions have shifted: from whether citizens can take part to whether securities are priced fairly, disclosed usefully, and supported by genuine institutional price discovery. To answer them, the paper would move beyond a fixed-price market toward book building and a segmented hybrid model with formal valuation guidelines; strengthen Qualified Institutional Buyers and anchor investors as accountable participants; and raise the bar for issuers and gatekeepers alike through licensing, due-diligence standards and professional liability.

Underpinning this is Digital IPO 2.0 - an integrated, paperless ecosystem of a unified portal, e-KYC, digital prospectus and straight-through processing - and a regulator shifting from document review to risk-based, data-driven supervision.

“Nepal’s next capital-market challenge is not access alone. It is quality, depth, credibility and productive capital formation.”

The paper sets a Vision 2035 of a transparent, fair, competitive, digital and investor-friendly market - five objectives and ten reforms, delivered in three phases: rules first (0–12 months), digital infrastructure next (1–3 years), and market depth thereafter (3–5 years). The larger goal is to turn national savings into productive capital for energy, infrastructure and industry - and, ultimately, sustainable growth.