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The Independent Power Producers’ Association, Nepal (IPPAN) has requested that the founder shares worth over NPR 2.2 billion of energy companies that issued IPOs since January 2024 be listed on the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE).

On Wednesday, IPPAN sent a letter to CDS and Clearing Limited (CDSC), urging that the founder shares of all energy companies be dematerialized and listed on NEPSE.

According to the securities issuance guidelines, after an IPO is issued, both the founder and ordinary shares are supposed to be listed on NEPSE simultaneously. However, IPPAN stated that CDSC has only dematerialized the ordinary shares, leaving founder shares blocked for about 14 months.

After CDSC insisted that separate International Securities Identification Numbers (ISIN) are mandatory for founder and ordinary shares, founder shares worth over NPR 2.21241 billion of 22 energy companies, including 3 solar energy companies, could not be listed on NEPSE.

According to energy entrepreneurs, this has put investors of nearly two dozen energy companies in difficulty. They complain that such a decision by CDSC weakens investor confidence in the government and negatively affects the environment for investing in future projects.

By law, the founder shares of energy companies are under a three-year “lock-in” period, during which they cannot be sold. Even though founder shares can only be sold after the company repays its bank loans following the three-year period, energy entrepreneurs argue that not listing the shares under the pretext of dual ISIN is unfair to investors.

On this issue, the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) also requested that the dual ISIN requirement not be implemented. The association warned that forcibly applying this rule could reduce investment from abroad into Nepal.

According to IPPAN, in the fiscal year 2025/26, founder shares worth NPR 352.26 million from 8 energy companies - totaling 3,522,652 shares - are yet to be listed. Similarly, in 2026/27, founder shares worth NPR 1.86014 billion from 14 companies - totaling 18,601,472 shares - are also pending listing.

Thus, IPPAN stated that founder shares worth a total of NPR 2.21241 billion from 22 companies - totaling 22,127,128 shares - have not yet been listed on NEPSE.

Jalasarokar