The Securities Board of Nepal (Sebon) has asked Nepal Life Insurance Company Ltd (NLIC) and Forward Community Microfinance (FCM) to settle their shares allotment process by February 24.

Citing the ongoing liquidity shortage that has also hit the secondary market, the capital market regulator has come up with the direction on Thursday.

Recently, NLIC has recently issued further public offering (FPO) while FCM has called for application for its initial public offering (IPO).

 The issuance of shares from these companies have collected more than Rs 55 billion from over 370,000 investors.

The big chunk of money stuck in the shares of NLIC and FCM has been pointed out as one of the major factors for the present liquidity shortage.

The downswing in share prices in Nepal Stock Exchange has also been blamed to the situation.

Nepal Stock Exchange index on Thursday plunged below 1,300 points, posting an 11 months’ low capital market indicator.