Judiciary plays important role in financial sector reforms

Kathmandu, Nov 19 -Experts have said that the Supreme Court has played a significant role in the Nepali banking and financial sector reforms.

Speaking at a review seminar on ‘Legal and judicial environment for financial sector development’, in the Capital on Friday they said that the coordination between concerned sectors can accelerate the pace of legal and judicial reforms of financial sector.

Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank Bijaya Nath Bhattarai, lauded cooperation extended by the judiciary in the financial sector reform initiatives so far. "It has still a lot to do though," said he.

Craig McAllister, Chief Executive Officer of Nepal Bank Limited stated that political commitment towards reforms has fallen short and legal support still not enough to yield desired results from financial sector reform program.

Presenting a paper Nagavalli Annamalai, lead counsel of the World Bank, underlined current problems in the legal and regulatory framework and future reforms required for the effective development of the Nepali financial sector.

Talking about Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), she suggested the commission to take extra precaution while pursuing business decisions gone wrong, as it could paralyze decision making and inculcate greater inefficiency in the system. "Business decision gone wrong cannot be a case of corruption," she stated.

Presenting a paper at a program on 'Legal and Judicial Environment for Financial Sector Development' Dr Ram Krishna Timalsena Registrar of the Supreme Court said that although the newly enacted law has provisions to establish commercial bench to handle corporate related cases but lack of knowledge and expertise pose a serious threat to its enforcement.

"The judiciary has its own limitations and the corporate sector, instead of criticizing it, should look to give a boost for its reforms," he added.

He also pointed out the need of training for judges, reform on commercial legislations and guidelines for commercial cases to start the process.

Among others, Kenichi Ohasi, country director of the World Bank and Sukhwinder Singh, resident representative of IMF also shared their views on the occasion