Nepal's first credit rating agency gets approval

Finally, the country is getting its first credit rating agency – Icra Nepal – as the Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) has awarded it the final approval to start operations.
The board's meeting on Monday approved the company for operation, and only handing over the licence formally is yet to be done. The regulator had inspected its infrastructure for the final approval of the licence, in July. The agency had applied for the operating licence about three months back after finalising its set up. Icra Nepal was granted the Letter of Intent (LoI) to undertake the process to start a credit rating agency in Nepal in August 2011.

India's Icra will have 55 per cent stake in the rating agency, whereas the remaining stake will be held by Credit Information Bureau, Himalayan Infrastructure Fund, and a few domestic banks. The Credit Rating Agency Regulation 2068 states that a foreign credit rating agency must have a minimum of 25 per cent stake in a Nepali credit rating agency.

According to the Credit Rating Agency Regulation 2068, companies planning to issue ordinary shares, bonds, debentures, or preference shares exceeding Rs 30 million in value have to get themselves rated by a rating agency.