CRO asks National Hydropower Company to annul appointments

KATHMANDU, SEP 10: 

Company Registrar’s Office (CRO) has ordered National Hydropower Company (NHC) to annul the recent appointments to its board and hold the suspended annual general meetings (AGM) as soon as possible. 

“The validity of the existing board expired this June 8 –– four years after the board was formed by the company’s AGM –– so any new appointment is not legitimate and Company Registrar’s Office has ordered the company to conduct its AGM and appoint new board members as per regulation,” said deputy registrar of Company Registrar’s Office Surendra Bahadur Shrestha. 

Likewise, chairman of the NB Group-promoted hydropower company Pradip Man Vaidya has lost his position by default for being blacklisted by the Credit Information Bureau. Another board member Jen Shrestha has already resigned. 

Moreover, Nepal Rastra Bank also penalised another director Laxmi Bahadur Shrestha on Friday with a fine of Rs 500,000, for his involvement in unlawful borrowings and writing back of loans from Nepal Bangladesh Bank –– another company promoted by NB Group. 

Being penalised by the regulator, Shrestha has also become unfit to be a board member of any other listed company by default. 

National Hydropower’s board now has only Prakash Rajaure and Dipak Karki as legitimate members –– both are representatives from public shareholders.

National Hydropower Company has been unable to hold its 14th and 15th annual general meetings since the last three years allegedly due 

to the uncooperative behaviour of the NB Group. Despite pressure from shareholders and the regulators’ order to hold its AGMs soon, the company has been postponing it under various pretexts. 

The fate of the group’s non-life insurance company –– NB Insurance Company –– is also uncertain. It has been suspended from performing any insurance activities after the regulator –– Insurance Board (IB) –– found the company’s executive board to be engaged in a series of misappropriation of funds. 

“The company has requested Insurance Board to allow operations but we can only withdraw the suspension if our on-site inspection finds the company has recovered all the funds and have put their act together as directed by the regulator,” said executive director of Insurance Board Binod Aryal. 

NB Group, under the helm of Jit Bahadur Shrestha and Lakshmi Bahadur Shrestha, partially own companies such as Nepal Bangladesh Bank, Nepal Credit and Commerce Bank, NB Insurance, National Hydropower Company, Harisiddhi Bricks and Tiles Factory, and International Recreation Center.

Source: THT