Former NEPSE Chief Shankar Man Singh Passes Away Unexpectedly at 65
Shankar Man Singh, the highly respected former CEO of the Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) who led the institution from 2009 to 2013, passed away on Wednesday night following a sudden heart attack. He is widely remembered as a visionary pioneer who transformed, modernized, and digitized Nepal’s capital market framework for retail investors.
The Nepali financial sector mourns the loss of an exceptional leader, Shankar Man Singh, whose influential tenure at the helm of NEPSE fundamentally restructured how shares are traded in Nepal. Serving during a critical growth phase between 2009 and 2013, Mr. Singh successfully navigated complex legal and bureaucratic hurdles to expand the number of licensed stockbrokers, effectively breaking market monopolies and taking share trading to a broader nationwide audience. Most notably, he was instrumental in phasing out physical paper certificates by spearheading the establishment of the central depository system (CDSC), establishing a fully digitized framework that democratized market access for everyday retail investors. Even after completing his tenure at the stock exchange, Mr. Singh dedicated his expertise to public service as a director on government committees and remained a prominent economic commentator and writer, leaving behind a lasting legacy of modernization in Nepal's capital markets.