The Abuse of Authority Investigation Commission raided the Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) on Wednesday after the hydropower promoters alleged that they were asking for commission in the initial share issue (IPO). According to an employee of the board, a team of the commission reached the office of the board at Lalitpur, Khumaltar at 11:30 am on Wednesday and seized the document.

He said that the three-member team assigned by the authority stayed in the board office all day and studied various files and left the office only at 4 pm.

"The team mainly investigated by asking for the documents of companies that have been granted IPO permission by the board, those in the process for permission, and the process has progressed, and some of them have been taken with them," said the employee.

After 22 months, the IPO permission of around 89 companies has been blocked by the board, and the hydropower promoters demanded an investigation by holding a formal program on Tuesday, saying that the board had mobilized middlemen to collect up to 7 percent commission. The Commission has started an inquiry and investigation process on that matter.

There have been written and verbal complaints regarding the functioning of the Securities Board, and after receiving more information in the last few days, commission sources have said that the investigation has been started. "Previously, complaints were filed against the board and top management for giving IPO permission to companies that did not meet the standards, mixing the process based on power and access, and abusing their positions without giving permission for a long time," the source said.

An officer of the Authority said that the investigation in the 'Commission' case has been carried out subtly by conducting raids. "During the initial study, the document was seized by the board as it was deemed necessary to conduct a detailed investigation, and now the rest of the matter will be resolved through the investigation," he said.

Chairman of Nepal Securities Board Santosh Narayan Shrestha accepted that the Commission's team office came and asked for information about the situation of the companies in the IPO process. "They did not bring any file, they asked for the status and list of the companies in the IPO process," said Chairman Shrestha.

Meanwhile, President Shrestha held a meeting with officials from the Independent Energy Producers Association (IPPAN) on Wednesday. Under the direction of Chairman Shrestha, the board management discussed with IPPAn officials. In the

meeting, Chairman Shrestha had questioned his ethics by making unsubstantiated allegations and complained about how compensation would be made for the consequences. Earlier, in a conversation with Kantipur on Tuesday, the chairman of the board, Shrestha, had claimed that there was no truth in the allegations of power producers. He challenged the commission to prove its allegations.

In Wednesday's discussion, officials of IPPAN said that the board should investigate further because there were complaints that hydroelectricity promoters were openly asking for commission through middlemen. IPPAN Chairman Ganesh Karki informed that the board's policy and the delay in giving IPO permission to companies were discussed in the meeting.

'We have clearly said, why was the permission stopped for 22 months, why were the 43 companies that applied, not given permission?' "No one has asked for a commission from Ippan, but the promoters have come to us asking for a commission, we have raised the same issue," he added.  Since

, the issue of asking for a commission has also been raised in Parliament. The parliamentarians have demanded an inquiry into the commission. Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, MP Madhav Sapkota of the main opposition Maoist demanded that a reliable mechanism investigate the issue of commission demand from the hydropower project.

MP Sapkota has demanded an investigation, mentioning that the news that the Securities Board has asked for a commission of 5 to 7 percent for issuing IPO has attracted serious attention. The chairman and members of IPPAN have revealed that the securities board has bargained for 5 percent from large projects and 7 percent from small projects. The opposition has taken serious notice of this news," he said.

His comment was that when the government has set a target of producing 28,000 megawatts of hydroelectricity, it is a serious matter that the regulatory body is asking for commission. He also demanded the Speaker to rule for investigation on the matter of requesting the commission. He alleged that middlemen were used to discourage investors of hydropower projects. RPP MP Roshan Karki has also demanded an investigation into the commission case.

It is being said that the head of the Securities Board has demanded a commission of 5 to 7 percent for issuing IPO. The Securities Board is not functioning well. Billions of money are trapped in the capital market. "Injustice has been done to those investors," she said, "The Chairman of the Securities Board has openly asked for commission." The prime minister's governance commission should take action against the chairman of the securities board.' The largest number of them are 43 companies belonging to the hydropower group. 24 billion 84 crore rupees to be raised from the general public through IPO and rights shares by the electricity company has been stopped due to lack of permission from the board. IPPAN said that it had to pay an additional 4.96 billion rupees in interest due to not getting the IPO permission. 

In the past 22 months, the IPO permit of around 89 companies has been stopped by the board, which has mobilized middlemen to collect up to 7 percent commission. On Tuesday, the hydropower promoters said that they will respond by holding a formal program. In the meeting, the promoters said that they are in favor of completely discouraging the middleman and if the board does not listen to the demand, they should proceed with the protest. 

The promoters say that the cost of the company has increased due to the fact that the board did not give permission for the IPO. Ippan also decided to form a 10-member committee on Tuesday to continuously fight against the activities of the board.

Ippan President Karki said that he had met with the President and the Prime Minister and the officials of the parliamentary committee to request the IPO permission. However, Ippan alleges that there was no hearing from anywhere, instead middlemen came and started asking for commission. 

The board has said that the IPO of companies with less than 90 net worth has been stopped by citing the instructions of the Public Accounts Committee. The Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives had instructed the Nepal Securities Board on January 12, 2080 to arrange IPO issuance only for companies with a net worth of more than 90%. But the promoters complain that the board has withheld permission even for projects with a net worth of more than 90. "Companies with real net worth above 90 have not been given permission to issue shares despite repeated requests," said IPPAN Vice President Uttam Vlon Lama.